


Medic Effect

by defiasstone2



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-15
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 13:49:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 64,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2311850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/defiasstone2/pseuds/defiasstone2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Born on Mindoir, John Shepard grew up fast after the death of his entire family. Where as many expected him to become a warrior or soldier, Shepard became a outstanding medic and survivor above all else. How will a man who has and will put the lives of his allies before the orders of his commanders survive in the days to come? New take on the canon events and Shep/multi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mindoir Memories and Eden Hell

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I know I am far, far too late to this party, but I blame the fact that I had shelved this story a long time ago until I was asked to contribute ideas to a ME crossover. So here it is: 
> 
> Mainly Paragon Shepard but still a realist when it comes to decisions (will do things like drop a bunch of crates on people for example rather than nobly fighting them on equal terms). 
> 
> Medic class: Mainly focussed on Leading and supporting strike teams with the use of biotics and healing tech skills, Medic class does not have many offensive abilities so Shepard has to use his weapons and team to deal with enemies. Based on the subclass of sentinel but I wanted to give it a unique stand point.
> 
> Other points: Will be a harem story, but not a rapidly developing one, this will be a slow development which is not the focus of the story. There will be some large divergences from Canon, but I will leave which bits for you to figure out as we go.
> 
> And with that bit of required preamble out of the way, here we go!

**Medic effect:**

**Chapter 1: Memories of Mindoir and Eden Hell.**

 

_Ambassador Udina: “What about Shepard, he grew up in the colonies after all.”_

_Captain Anderson: “He is no stranger to hardship, his family was killed in the attack on Mindoir. Made his first kill that day as well.”_

_Admiral Hackett: “He proved himself during the Blitz, held one of our key defense towers almost singlehandedly until reinforcements arrived, saved a whole lot of lives.”_

_Captain Anderson: “Indeed, he is the only reason Elysium is still standing.  There is no question of his technical competence, fully trained biotic after his powers were discovered on Mindoir, doctorate in medicine and field triage as well as his N7 training and mission experience.”_

_Ambassador Udina: “True, we cannot doubt his courage either.”_

_Captain Anderson: “Humanity needs a hero and having served with him for two years now, I can definitely say he is the best we have.”_

_Ambassador Udina: “Very well, I will make the call...”_

 

**_Extract from the logs of Captain Anderson, on the subject of Shepard, the second human Spectre candidate._ **

****

*Flashback*

 

It was a chilly blustery day in the middle of Mindoir’s Autumnal season but young John Shepard, aged 14 years and 13 days, didn't care about the cold wind at all as he held his mothers hand tightly. He walked quickly to keep up with her longer stride as she led him into the local town of Thorpen Grange, excitement bubbling in his chest at the thought of the evening to come.

 

There was to be a band playing and carnival games after the parade of floats and other performers, even more than usual he thought excitedly. His father had gone ahead to secure them a good spot along the procession, as the elder Shepard did not want to rush his pregnant wife more than he had to, with her so close to her third trimester. Looking up at his mother and her slightly bulging belly, John couldn't help but grin, he was going to be a big brother and from what he had seen amongst his friends, big brothers were the coolest people ever.

 

John was still musing on the idea of how great things were going to be soon when he caught sight of his dad stood waving at the two of them from the front of the crowd. As a small farming community, it was not often that they got the opportunity to hold such events, usually they kept to themselves on their own little communities. The celebration was for the fifth anniversary of the colonies founding, and everyone was getting into it, with the older members of the community having practiced for months before to become a passable marching band and were going to be leading the small parade that was passing through the central town of the small colony.

 

As they approached his dad John's grin widened, his dad clearing them a space  in the crowd, gently but firmly with his large arms. John knew his dad had been in the military, something that had been explained to him when he asked about his dad’s bad limp, which the elder Shepard had obtained during the first contact war with the Turian forces of the council. Despite the difficulties his Dad maintained his fitness as best he could which was one of the reasons people shifting at his insistence, his height at 6”5 another as he towered over those around him.

 

His mother embraced his Dad joyfully and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. She opened her mouth to say something when all of a sudden, explosions began to be heard in the distance. Looking around John’s sharp eyes picked out as strange shapes began to appear in the sky, dark and menacing shapes that glowed for a moment before going dark. The explosions came again, this time closer than before and it didn’t take much effort to realise what was happening from the stories his Dad had told him as a child.

 

Before John could ask any questions or let people know what he had seen, he found himself being swept away along with his mother, his father dragging the two of them away from the agitated crowd who obviously hadn’t realised what was going on quite yet. His Dad was heading towards the outskirts as fast as he could, his head turning from side to side rapidly as if looking out for something, the look of fear and panic something John had never imagined he would see on the unflappable man.

 

When his Dad spoke his voice was low and grating, which was probably due to the running on his injured leg. 'We must keep going, head to the fields, we can loose them in there.' John's mother winced as another explosion happened, much closer this time, followed by a series of pained cries. " Paul, what is happening? Who is attacking us?" Paul Shepard, his Dad, shook his head as the fear from earlier was replaced with anger as he continued pulling them along with a hurried insistence. "Batarians, most likely slavers, though I saw at least one frigate there,  we must hurry out of here, right now." There was an explosion sound as John took one more look at the colony, then everything was consumed in white light.

 

*End Flashback*

 

"Commander? Commander Shepard!" The now 27 year old John Shepard was awake in an instant, his eyes fixing themselves on Corporal Jenkins, who was the one who had been calling to him whilst he was asleep. Shepard was glad that Jenkins had been focussed on his face, it meant his instinctual grabbing of the knife that was always attached to his hip had probably gone unnoticed. Keeping a weapon to hand at all times was a bad habit, but one that had saved his life more than once. He knew he had avoided an awkward moment when Jenkins spoke again without pause or change of inflection. "Are you alright sir? You were jerking around quite heavily just now. " Shepard nodded that he was as he sat up straight, even though he knew he probably looked a state at that moment, red eyed and soaked in sweat.

“I am fine Corporal, just some old memories of times that I would rather forget. What is it you need from me?” Of course John wasn’t being entirely truthful when he said he wished to forget those memories, it was the ones that occurred after he didn’t want to remember. He was grateful when Jenkins dropped the subject with a nod, the young marine had no actual wartime experience but had heard all the stories of John’s past, so was probably imagining what horrors were inside John’s head when he slept.

 

"Of course Commander no need to explain further. I am here as I was ordered to inform you that captain Anderson and the Turian will be expecting you on the bridge shortly, we are heading through the gate in 5 minutes and they wish to discuss the formalities of the visit to Eden Prime with you. Do you wish for me to inform them that you will be there ASAP?" At Shepards tired nod Jenkins then saluted and left his bunk room without another word. John reasserted his grip on his surroundings, reminding himself that he was not on Mindoir, he was aboard the SSV Normandy inside his quarters, which he shared with Navigator Pressley on a vague 12 hour shift. The room space was on such a shift due to the limited space on the Frigate, only Captain Anderson got his own personal sleeping space and even the size of it was something very unique to the experimental human ship. Knowing that he was expected Shepard quickly ran through two of the mind exercises he had taught himself to focus his mind as he heaved himself out of the bed space and into the Normandy quarters.

 

He hurriedly headed to the shower area, clearing his mind of the last vestiges of the emotions and stray thoughts brought on by the memories,  activating the quick clean mode on one of the shower heads with practiced ease, quickly being covered in premixed soapy warm water that he quickly washed himself down with. A minute later John was out by his locker, drying himself as quickly as he could with the nano-towel that he had laid out before taking a rest a few hours before. John then reached into the locker and began equipping himself with the N7 armour he had received as part of his first promotion, his reward for his actions during the Skyllian Blitz against the Batarian slavers who had tried to take the planet and its inhabitants for themselves. John chuckled morbidly to himself as he thought of his current situation,it was certainly interesting, being the first official N7 medic in history, the only lifesaver amongst the nest of assassins and elite warriors.

From there, after five years of earning the respect of his team with blood, sweat and a few close calls, John had been plucked from his position to be ‘promoted’ to the position of Commander of the newest and fastest Earth built ship cadre of marines?Logically John knew most of the reason for his promotion was due to public pressure on the politicians back on Earth as opposed to the punishment that he had taken the secondment as originally. That logic fell short of being able to explain the choice of mission they were on however, or the presence of one of the fabled council spectre operatives overseeing its completion.

 

"This is a hell of a force for a simple shakedown mission." John muttered to himself as he attached his custom crafted N7 right gauntlet in place on his armour. It was almost twice the size and weight of his left gauntlet, but that was because it contained enough medical supplies,  surgical nanites and of course medi-gel to look after a small platoon of humans if necessary, along with a small group of the more difficult to treat council races. It also contained a prototype device which he along with several techies in the N7 division had worked on for almost a year, something he wasn’t quite ready to let the others know about quite yet. It could turn omni-gel into further supplements of medi-gel, though it had a long cool down period after each use. With all his armour in place, he reached down and grabbed his helmet in one hand whilst the other picked up and stowed his pistol on its mag-locked point on his thigh, shifting the knife that was already there to the outside of the armour plating. Quite a few of the crew probably thought him paranoid, but after the events of Mindoir, he wasn't going anywhere unarmed again.

 

*Flashback*

 

_His fathers face, twisted in agony as his injured leg gives out from under him, a laughing Batarian standing over him, covered in blood and gore, his mother, screaming for him as she is dragged away, the Batarian raising a bloody knife with a malicious glee clear on its features as it stepped over his father’s corpse towards him..._

*Flashback End*

 

John snapped back into reality finding himself in the elevator on the way to the command deck, his body having followed the semi familiar path without his conscious guidance.  John shook his head as he ran through his mind clearing exercise once more, he needed to be focused, no time for memories. The elevator door opened with a quiet bing exposing him to the large semi-open area that served as the Normandy’s command deck. A raised dais, where the Captain stood and gave orders, overlooked the other crew pits which contained work stations for the various sections of the ship.

 

John stepped out of the elevator without so much as a pause, meeting eyes with Captain Anderson straight away. The two had worked together before on several N7 operations before the two of them had been moved to the Normandy and they were quite good friends outside of missions, though Shepard secretly thought that Anderson had something to do with his transfer here. Remembering that this was technically mission time John snapped off a salute to both him and the Spectre who was stood next to him.

 

The Turian went by the name Nihlus who straightened from looking into the galaxy map area to return the salute, reminding Shepard of why he liked the Turian who actually tried to fit in with their command structure rather than just dominating it as the Spectres he had encountered in the past had done. Anderson wasted no time in formalities beyond returning the salute with a textbook classic response of his own, his lack of his usual welcoming and friendly attitude showing the true urgency of the matter. "Commander, we have a situation on Eden Prime."

 

He gestured as Shepard walked up onto the dais, looking down onto the galaxy map as it  went from a general overview of the milky way and focused on the planet that Anderson had mentioned. "All data feeds from the planet went silent about 15 minutes ago. We thought initially that it might just be solar activity or trouble with a transmitter, but then we received this heavily jammed message at the same time. It took some work but this is it after the techies cleaned up as much as they could whilst Jenkins went and fetched you.” With a press of a button the speakers began playing the sound of someone’s voice.

 

"Station, we've just received a large ship through the mass relay, it hasn't been responding to hails as it approaches. Is this some kind of drill?” Shepard’s ears picked up the sound of explosions in the background a  few seconds before the voice seemed to notice and react to them. “Dear god, all units, we are under attack, report to battle stations..." There was a jump in the feed and then there was a video that came to life on the galaxy map display, John recognised gunfire and explosions on screen blurry as the feed was, the view having changed to that of what he assumed was an officers helmet.

 

"We are under heavy attack... Many casualties!" At this point the officer was pushed into cover by a female marine as more explosions occurred overhead. John was impressed by the marine he could see on the screen, showing no fear as she stood quickly, firing in controlled bursts with her assault rifle as the officer carried on speaking. "We need support, evac for the wounded, they are everywhe..." he was cut off by a strange drone that drowned out everything else.

 

The camera cut to the sky and a ship appeared, wreathed in red lightning, four limbs askew like the hand of an angry god descending upon them. The camera cut away again as the firing intensified, before a bright light put up the screen, and darkness fell before static dominated the speakers once more. Captain Anderson cut it off with a wave of a hand, his face grave and serious, making him look much older than Shepard remembered seeing him before.

 

“The rest of the communication is static and interference, but we now know to come in weapons hot. Commander, you are to lead the advance scout team. Your primary objective is find out what we are up against and what strength of opposition stands between us and retrieving that beacon. Secondary objectives are to kill as many enemies as you can as well as to help any troops or survivors you find in anyway you can. Nihilus will be dropped nearer the beacon, we need to still obtain that, and it might be what the attackers are here for."

 

Shepard nodded, it was a good job he had as many supplies as he did, it sounded like his medic abilities would be put to good use again. "Yes sir, who am I to be taking with me? And when do we deploy?" Anderson gestured and Jenkins and another marine Shepard didn't know stepped forwards. "Corporal Jenkins and Lieutenant Alenko will be with you as the sweep team, team Beta will be providing support and extraction." The Normandy’s pilot, who was affectionately nicknamed Joker by the crew and had refused to answer by any other including his given name, came on the intercom.

 

"Captain, clearing the gate in 10 seconds." Anderson nodded, turning back to the marines and speaking in the same friendly but commanding tone that he had used in all the time that Shepard had known him.

"Head to the shuttle bay men, and Shepard?" Shepard turned, wondering what the Captain could have to say that he hadn’t already.

"Sir?" Anderson pointed at his pistol, shaking his head.

"Please tell me you're taking more than that peashooter on this mission?" Shepard grinned almost viciously at that comment and turned away as he charged the weapon before replying in his most confident tone.

"Sir, if I need more than this baby,  then the mission is already fubar enough to worry me." shaking his head, Anderson's only reply was a exasperated grin obviously knowing not to bother pushing the point, the expression was the last thing that Shepard saw before the elevator closed and began its descent into the ships depths.

 

Time Skip.

 

"That ship is huge!" Jenkins muttering of the obvious did nothing to reduce the similar feelings of concern and anticipation that were passing through Johns head at the time. "How did they get such a monster into atmosphere, that shouldn't be possible!" Kaidan's insightful but distracting comment brought Shepard’s mind back to the mission and he gestured forwards in an attempt to get the others to do the same.

"Focus on the mission people, we can work out how to deal with the thing over there afterwards." Alenko nodded, drawing his assault rifle as he did so. Shepard gave out his first orders as he scanned the area with his pistol at the ready. "Jenkins, take point whilst we advance, I don't want to have any surprises here." Jenkins nodded, obviously eager to prove himself on their first mission.

"Of course commander, let's go save us a..." The rest of what Jenkins was going to say was cut off by the appearance of two floating drones, who swooped down on Jenkins weapons blazing into him. Even as Jenkins fell, screaming in pain, Shepard was already moving into action. With his right hand he raised his gauntlet and fired a dose of medigel into the fallen Jenkins via a dart injection system that he was currently testing for alliance R+D along with the other gizmo’s that he had incorporated into the piece of armour.

 

In his left hand his pistol was already up and firing, shots slamming into the closest of the flimsy machines, whilst Kaidan coated the other with sustained and accurate rifle fire.  Alenko's drone crashed to the earth whilst Shepard’s drone managed to line itself up for another run. As it accelerated, Shepard raised his hands and focused his strength and will. As the first shot scorched the ground in front of him he pushed forward  and released a warp spike. The focussed biotic wave was his personal version of the warp, acting as a nanoblade through the air and splitting the machine in two parts. The remains fell to the floor smoking even as Shepard reached the fallen Jenkins, whose torso was now a blackened mess of armour, flesh and bone. He was breathing, if barely, and the inside of his visor was covered in blood. The medigel had done its job however, and as Shepard worked away to try and mitigate the worst of the damage, he could see the chances of Jenkins surviving increasing greatly. He managed to activate his comms unit in a moments respite from treatment as Kaiden swept the area once more.

 

"Beta, we have a man down, I need you to perform emergency extraction, we will continue the mission regardless. Kaiden, the drones remains, we will want them for analysis considering what their weapons did to our armour!" Twenty seconds later the drop ship streaked into view, landing a short distance away, two marines leaping out of the opening door, stretcher carried between the two of them. Shepard helped moved him onto the stretcher as Kaiden moved the drones onto the ship with the help of one of the other marines. After quickly instructing the lead marine on how to keep Jenkins stable, Shepard moved off with Alenko as they moved back towards the transport. He knew that moving on now was a risky decision as it would be at least 30 minutes before the drop ship was back into position from delivering Jenkins to the Normandy. That meant that for the time being, they were on their own without any support in the case they encountered a force that could overwhelm them.

 

But waiting would greatly reduce the chance that they would find any survivors at all and that was something the medic in him couldn’t stand despite the risks.  Shepard took the lead this time and whilst they moved  he got his suits VI to enhance his forward shields to maximum capacity at the cost of his rear armour shields. The armour gave a low buzz before stabilising once more, better the shields block a shot to the front and risk a sneak attack than be useless for both angles. They had barely gotten 100 yards before they each heard the distinctive whine of more geth gun drones. This time he and Kaiden were ready, and with a few short bursts of fire the drones tumbled to the floor, more junk to be collected once the nightmare was over. The smell of death and smoke was becoming more prevalent the further they advanced, penetrating their helmets with surprising ease, reinforcing his earlier though that if they were to find any survivors, they would have to move fast. Indicating that he would continue to lead they continued to advance rapidly and quietly. After a couple more minutes of advancing in silence there was a short buzz before Nihilus came over the radio, speaking quietly and urgently.

"Commander, there are a lot of burning buildings here, bodies too. I'm going to check it out, keep moving to the digsite." Shepard was about to respond when the sounds of gunfire came from in front of them, follows by the now familiar sound of geth plasma fire in response. Sprinting to the top of the hill his eyes took in the scene in a moment. There was the female marine from the communications video they had received on the Normandy, sprinting as fast as she could away from a pair of drones who were spitting fire at her, two shots clipping her armour and nearly making her stumble. Shepard had his gun up and was just about to fire at the closest drone when the marine leapt to the ground, drawing her pistol as she did so and turning. Three bursts of fire felled the drones, accuracy that John would have appreciated if he wasn’t already eying up his next target, which was the pair of large humanoid robots that were holding a colonist on some kind of strange device.

 

Loosing off a warp spike even as he began firing, Shepard was pleased when the biotic attack slammed into the synthetic holding the colonist down and causing it to pull the colonist off the device as it fell to the ground from the impact. His relief turned to concern as not a moment later a giant spike shot up from the middle of the device the colonist had been placed upon, leaving no doubt as to what would have happened if Shepard hadn’t taken the shot. The other synthetic seemed torn between target him or the female marine, who had moved into cover and drawn her assault rifle as he charged down the hill with Kaidan right behind him. The thing had just started firing at him when the female marin shifted out of cover and began firing, rounds impacting on the things chest as Kaiden joined in with his own fire, the rain of assault rifle shots bringing it down in moments. Shepard had carried on moving forwards, aiming for the one that he had knocked down as it pushed itself back to its feet in an unsteady manner.

 

He was ten feet away as it turned with its weapon ready, a trio of pistol rounds impacting in the head area sending it collapsing to the floor once more. Checking the two robots for a moment before deciding that they wouldn’t be getting back up, John saw that the colonist was alive if not entirely with it due to shock. Selecting a small sedative from his kit, he injected it into the man who didn’t even seem to notice before he slowly fell unconscious. Turning to the female marine who had moved up in his wake and had been sweeping the area with her rifle he began to check her visually for injuries or damage to her armour.

 

She obviously noticed his look as she switched her rifle to her left hand hurriedly before saluting.

“Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, are you the one in charge here sir?” Consummate professional even after being under fire, no signs of injuries and his scans weren’t sensing any signs of shock. Shepard gave a quick salute back before asking his first question.

“I am Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy, so unless we find your commander I am giving the orders for this mission. Are you wounded Williams?” She shook her head with a small look of remorse.

“A few scrapes and burns from weapons fire, nothing serious. The others, they weren’t so lucky. It is a good job you showed up when you did Commander.” Looking at the mangled remains of the two drones Shepard couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“You seemed to have it under control as best you could Williams. Now help me move this man into some cover and you can tell me what happened to the rest of your unit.” Ashley nodded though it was clear she didn’t agree with his assessment of the situation even as she moved to grab one of the colonists arms.

“We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call but they have been blocking our communications. Then we tried to double back to the beacon only to walk into an ambush. I have been fighting for my life ever since, I think I am the only one left.” Knowing from experience what it felt like to be the only survivor of an attack, Shepard decided to try and make sure that Ashley knew that their sacrifice wasn’t pointless or her fault, though he tried to avoid outright saying as such as pity was the worst approach in this situation.

“Well its thanks to your squads communication that we knew what we were coming up against otherwise we wouldn’t have been ready for this. I am sure that you did everything you could to save them.” The news that the communication had gotten through had the effect that Shepard had expected it too, with Ashley’s demeanour visibly brightening, if only momentarily.

“It did? We weren’t sure with the jamming going on. We held our position as long as we could until the Geth overwhelmed us.” The mention of the Geth made the niggling feeling inside Shepard’s head go away, he thought he had recognised the larger synthetics from somewhere, even if it was only in the dusty textbooks at the academy.

“The Geth haven’t been seen outside of the Perseus Veil in over two hundred years. Why are they here now?” Williams spoke quickly in reply to Kaidans question and her comment confirmed what Shepard had been thinking.

“They must be after the beacon, its the only thing of strategic importance here. The dig site is close, I was trying to work my way to it after the ambush. The beacon might still be there. It is just over that rise there.” They had moved the Colonist whilst they were talking to one of the trees which was surrounded by small bushes, more then enough to hide him from a basic search of the area. At Ashley’s direction they were ready to move out once more, questions that were not mission sensitive could wait till later.

“We could use your firepower Williams, ready to take the fight back to the Geth?” Ashley nodded eagerly and readied her assault rifle once more.

“Aye Aye sir, it is time for some payback.” Shepard nodded but knew he would need to keep an eye on her, vengeance was a great but terrible weapon and if left unchecked Ashley could get them all killed.

“Lieutenant, take point whilst I debrief Williams, we will talk as we move.” There were no disagreements as Kaidan moved into position and they took off at a quick jog whilst Shepard asked the first question that came to mind.

“What can you tell me about the Beacon? Why would the Geth be after it?” Ashley seemed almost annoyed with herself as she answered.

“They found the beacon whilst they were digging to extend the monorail from the main colony a few weeks back, unearthed some prothean ruins which the beacon was in. Everyone who had something to do with science in the colony was clamouring to get a hold of it, which is when we were brought in to secure it. I heard one of the scientists say this could be the scientific find of the century, but I don’t know anything more than that Commander.” The lack of intel was annoying when trying to make decisions for the strike teams progress, but at the same time it was hardly unsurprising.

“The researchers and scientists here to investigate the damn thing, what happened to them?” Ashley pointed off to the left of where they were headed.

“They set up a camp near the dig site, the 232 was with them. Perhaps they fared better in the attack then we did.” Knowing how unlikely that chance was Shepard decided to leave the conversation at that, an avoidance that was helped by the plasma that flew over Kaidan's head as they cleared the rise overlooking the dig site.

“Four geth troopers... Make that three!” Kaidan’s call was punctuated by his utilisation of biotics to throw the nearest Geth into the wall of the dig site, impaling it upon a extended pole. The remaining three Geth were dealt with quickly between Shepard and Kaidans biotics as well as Ashley’s impeccable accuracy, but it was the synthetics presence at the site that confirmed the bad news he was slowly starting to expect at every turn with this mission.

“The beacon was here, someone must have moved it.” Kaidan sighed, he was obviously getting as used to complications as Shepard was.

“Well the question is who moved it, us or the Geth?” Ashley nodded towards the path that led out of the other side of the dig site.

“I don’t know, but if there are any survivors they might be holed up in the camp and they might know about it.” Reasonable assumption Shepard thought as he spied something in the hands of one of the dead researchers at the site, a Hurricane IV model if he wasn’t mistaken, definitely not standard issue. Deciding to worry about where he had gotten it from later, Shepard grabbed it and tossed it to Ashley who caught it deftly, looked it over once before putting her own Hurricane I model on her back. The upgraded weapon would serve them well and considering how FUBAR the mission had already gone, they would need all the help they could get...

Time Skip:

“Humans, thank the maker!” The female researcher seemed overjoyed at their presence, but the injured male seemed much more cautious.

“Quick, close the door before they come back!” As much as he didn’t have time for pleasantries, Shepard knew that trying to rush a conversation past these two might cause them to clam up or forget things, so he tried the nice approach. Kaidan was searching the rest of the camp for other survivors anyway so he had some time.

“Don’t worry, we have dealt with the Geth in the camp and on the outskirts, we will protect you from here. I am Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy.” The woman smiled in relief at his words and seemed a lot more at ease when she continued speaking.

“Thank you, I think we will be okay now. I think everyone has gone.” Ashley spoke up at this point her face a mixture of consternation and recognition.

"You are Dr Warren, the one in charge of the excavations. Do you know what happened to the beacon? It has been moved from the dig site.” The newly named Dr Warren nodded before explaining.

“It was moved to the spaceport this morning, Dr Manuel and I stayed behind to help pack up the camp. When the attack came the marines held them off long enough for us to hide in here. They gave their lives to save us.” Before anyone could speak, Dr Manuel spoke up, his eyes darting from the door to the windows in a panicked fidgety manner.

“No one is saved, the age of humanity has ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain!” Shepard already really didn’t like the guy and his attitude wasn’t helping. Deciding to ignore him in the hope he would remain quiet Shepard focussed on Warren.

“What else can you tell me about the attack?” She shrugged apologetically.

“It all happened so fast. One moment we were packing up our equipment, the next we were hiding in this shed whilst the Geth swarmed over the camp.” Dr Manuel started ranting about extinction again so Shepard tuned him out whilst Warren continued.

“We could hear the battle outside, gunfire, screaming. I thought it would never end. We locked the door and just sat here, until you came along we didn’t dare hope for a rescue.” Shepard nodded in understanding, such a reaction was hardly out of the norm for non-military personnel.

"We are planning on heading to the spaceport to retrieve the beacon but if you remain here we can extract you once we have it and the Geth withdraw. Is there anything you can tell me about the beacon?" Dr Warren looked a little confused before she seemed to realise that she was talking to someone who hadn't been involved in the beacon project at all and quickly extrapolated on the little that Shepard already knew.

"It's some type of data module from a Prothean galaxy wide communications network. It's remarkably well preserved and could be the greatest scientific discovery of our lifetimes.Miraculous new technologies, groundbreaking medical advances. Who knows what secrets are locked inside." The awe in which Dr Warren spoke about the beacon made Shepard realise how much she loved her work if talking about it could drag her from the horrors she had been forced to listen to outside. His appreciation for her love of the subject was ruined by Dr Manuel once more.

"We have unearthed the heart of darkness, awakened the beast. Unleashed the darkness." It seemed that Dr Warren was tired of his ranting as well, but she limited her response to an exasperated sigh and comment of.

"Manuel, please. This isn't the time." Looking closer at the man for the first time, Shepard noticed several signs of a mental break, twitching hands, unfocused staring and wide eyes mixed with sudden jerky movements.

"What is wrong with your assistant? He seems to be suffering a mental breakdown." Dr Warren sighed.

"Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he has always been a bit... Unstable." Looking at the man, Shepard couldn't help but think that was a slight understatement. "Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin after all. I gave him an extra dose of meds after the attack, but they don't seem to have had much effect." Deciding that they needed to move to the spaceport soon if they were to secure the beacon, Shepard had one last question to ask so that he knew that Nihlus was on the right track.

"Did you see a Turian move through here recently?" Manuel looked up sharply at this and his eyes fixed firmly on Shepard for the first time since he entered the shed they were in.

"I have seen him. The prophet! The leader of the enemy. He passed through here before the attack." That didn't make sense, Nihlus was on the Normandy before the attack so what could the madman be going on about? Shepard wanted to shake it off as the ravings of a lunatic, but there was something in his eyes that made Shepard think there was something going on here that they did not know about yet. Bad enough they already dealing with Geth who had machines that turned humans into some kind of electronic husk that attacked them on sight. The possibility of a Turian being involved just made things worse.

"I am sorry, Manuel is a bit unsettled, we haven't seen anything since the attack, we have been hiding in here." Shepard nodded, it was probably nothing and he was getting paranoid for no reason.

"Williams, I need directions to the spaceport, Kaidan any survivors?" After receiving a surprising confirmation from the lieutenant, who had found two badly injured marines hidden in a storm drain, it took a couple of minutes to move them into the shed where the others were hiding.

Dr Warren waved him off as he went to treat them. "I can look after these two, you need to go and save as many others as you can. You are the only hope most of them have got." Feeling slightly chastised at the reminder Shepard nodded before heading to the door. "Lock this when we leave, I will make sure the evac team announce itself before trying to get inside."

That was five lives saved, only another couple of thousand to possibly lose on the way to the spaceport and the beacon...

Time skip:

After two more squads of Geth troopers had been in their path and were dealt with, mostly by an angry Ashley who took slightly more joy in reducing the synthetics to piles of broken machinery than Shepard was comfortable with, they made it to the space station storage area.

"This place got hit hard, I wonder if anyone managed to make it out?" They saw the first Geth trooper that seemed to be sweeping the area, Shepard downing it just in time to see the giant unknown ship take off in the distance, like a spider ascending to its web after devouring its prey. They  moved through the area dealing with another half a dozen Geth. After the hostiles were down Shepard led a quick search of the area and found another half a dozen survivors, hidden in another storage shed that the Geth had been guarding along with the station, seemingly content to wait the humans out rather than storm the building.

The colonists had been simple farmers that hadn't been able to help him with much information, but they had had some smuggled weapons that Shepard had easily persuaded them to part with after a speech about risking everything to save Eden Prime. He was now the proud owner of a Stinger III pistol, which was certainly better made and maintained than his older model. The old Stinger was the last memento from his pre-military days, something he had been given by the marines who had rescued him from the batarian slavers all those years before. But for now he needed the extra firepower the newer gun gave him, so he swapped it out and stored his still in his backpack.

As the three of them headed into the main area of the space station, they were attacked by a group of Geth that were obviously standing guard to the entrance. The combined group of Geth troopers and husks were more of a challenge than Shepard anticipated, the three of them unable to concentrate their fire to finish off either group without risking exposure to the other. It took a couple of minutes and a plasma wound to Shepard’s shoulder before the last husk fell with a crackling nimbus of blur energy radiating from its unmoving body.

Patching himself up whilst the others searched the area, Shepard almost checked his commlink for damage when Kaidan spoke up with an almost disbelieving tone in his voice.

"Commander, you should come see this, it's Nihlus." Standing quickly Shepard followed his sensors which lead him to Kaidan's position, Ashley's motion signal also converging from the west. Seeing the unmoving body of the Spectre on the ground Shepard had to resist the urge to rush forward to check on him, scanning the area as Ashley suddenly spoke up.

"There, something is moving behind those crates." Prepping his pistol Shepard was surprised when a human voice called out.

"Don't shoot, don't shoot I am human!" As the colonist stepped out from behind the crates with an obviously terrified look on his face, Shepard knew he wasn't going to like what followed...

 

Time skip:

 

As he activated the rail transport that would take them to the station the beacon was being held at, Shepard knew he had been right with his unoptimistic thoughts. The colonists report of what had happened to  Nihilus was both confusing and daunting to hear. The name Saren, the Turian that supposedly shot Nihlus when he wasn't looking, was one that Shepard didn't recognise. But according to Powell, the colonist who had seen the shooting, Nihilus seemed to know him, we'll enough to let his guard down at least to let Saren shoot him in the back of the head. Unfortunately there was no time to properly investigate the body, the fact that Saren seemed to be headed to the beacon made everything that much more urgent.

 

Powell, who one of the farmers they had encountered before had told Shepard was the main smuggler on Eden prime, also had gotten hold of some experimental grenades they had been using at the dig site to remove the harder rocks. Judging by the damage the grenades had done when Shepard had used them to destroy the large Red Geth on the the rail platform, they definitely were more impressive than the alliance standard models.

 

As the rail transport began moving, his commlink activated once more. "Commander, Beta team are back in position though we cannot follow you to the space station, scanners are picking up a large enemy ship in the vicinity and if we get much closer it will pick us up. What are your orders?" Relaying what he had discovered thus far about the attack and the beacon, Shepard got them to head to the research camp to pick up the survivors and then return to the Normandy to inform Captain Anderson of developments.

 

Looking up after letting go of his commlink, Shepard saw they were approaching the other station, with a white armoured Geth already preparing its weapon to fire in their direction. "Take cover, hostiles to the front." His call went unneeded as Ashley and Kaidan were already moving to the sparse cover the transporter offered them. Taking aim with his pistol Shepard began firing, his first shot clipping the Geth's shoulder and throwing its own fire off course. Let the slaughter commence.

 

Time skip:

 

With the Geth bombs neutralised, each with enough explosive power to level a good portion of the colony by themselves, mopping up the remaining Geth didn't take too much time or effort for his team. Looking at the beacon in front of him as the smaller Geth ship took to the skies, obviously to escape the explosion they had just prevented, Shepard wondered what the hell it contained that had made it worth so many lives. Shaking his head, that was a matter that went far above his head, Shepard reached for his earpiece to report in.

"Normandy, the beacon is secure. The space station is clear of hostiles and the Geth ships have left planetside, requesting ground teams to help with mopping up and search and rescue operations." He heard Kaidan say something in an awed tone in his voice as Joker came on the line.

"We are on our way, Beta team reported back half an hour ago and the Captain? Well lets say he wants answers and he wants them now."

 

"Roger that Joker, I know exactly how he is feeling, we will guard the beacon until ground crews are here." Releasing the comms, Shepard turned to find Kaidan stood there waiting for him. "Extraction is on route, we will be out of here... Ashley!" He cut off as he saw the beacon light up, Ashley being drawn towards it by some invisible force despite her obvious efforts to pull back. He didn't know whether it was the medic or the soldier in him that made him run forwards and grab her. He pulled with all his might but didn't seem to be able to move her at all, so he instead spun round with her so he was closest to the beacon, flinging her back towards Kaidan even as he felt the pull draw him closer to the now pulsating beacon.

  
He was drawn up into the air by the same invisible force, unfamiliar and strange images filling his head as he heard Ashley cry his name from behind him. The jumble of images was not clear, but the feeling behind them was clear enough. For the first time Shepard understood why Manuel had been like he was, such was the feelings of despair, terror and imminent death that the images evoked in the subconscious of his mind.  The stream of images accelerated and Shepard could just start to make out what they were of, when the beacon gave a high pitched squeal and everything went black...


	2. Information! A place on my team for Information

Consciousness came slowly, which was annoying for Shepard as he had always prided himself on being able to be awake and alert at the slightest disturbance. As his brain woke up so did the pain that burst from it like a rapidly beating drum, something that wasn't helped by the voice that spoke up as he righted himself. "Dr? Dr Chakwas? I think he is waking up!" As his cognitive functions became fully functional Shepard realised he was in the medical bay of the Normandy on one of the treatment tables, a position he was not used to being in. Looking up as footsteps sounded he saw the familiar face of Dr Chakwas, the ships doctor, approaching with a concerned smile on her face.

"You had us worried Shepard, even more so than Jenkins. How are you feeling?" Knowing it was not worth trying to lie to the woman, who seemed to have an ability to sense such misdemeanors in her patients, Shepard reached for his head as another wave began.

"Throbbing, comes in waves and of varying intensity, any water? What is Jenkins condition, did the medi gel launcher work properly?" Chakwas didn't seem able to help the chuckle as she turned back to him from the station where she had been filling a glass with water.

"Out for 15 hours with unknown side effects of being in contact with a Prothean device and all you can think about is work? The role of medic really does suit you Commander. Jenkins is stable, once we reach the citadel they can give him better treatment than I can manage on here, but he will live, along with the two badly injured marines you rescued from the camp." Ashley, who had been stood respectfully behind him until that point spoke up with more than a slight hint of self loathing in her voice.

"It's my fault you were out for so long. I just have triggered some kind of security field on the beacon when I approached it. If I had been more careful you wouldn't have had to push me out of the way." Definitely not the best day for her self esteem, but considering what she had been through she was in the best shape Shepard could imagine. Trying his best to think straight as he took a long gulp of the water Dr Chakwas gave him, Shepard decided to deal with Ashley's inadequacy issues before asking anymore questions about the mission.

"Williams, you had no way of knowing that would happen, Dr Warren definitely didn't mention something like that happening at the Research base." Though Ashley didn't say anything he could tell that his words had had some effect on her as Dr Chakwas spoke once more.

"Unfortunately we will not be able to study it any further to see if that was what was meant to happen." Ashley stepped forward into his field of view, obviously having taken his words to mean she was forgiven enough to address him directly.

"The beacon exploded Commander, a system overload maybe. The blast knocked you out cold and nothing we did could wake you before the recovery team arrived. I helped carry you to the ship whilst the lieutenant coordinated the ground efforts."

"I appreciate the assistance, but I don't think it was the blast that knocked me out. What were my scans like?" Chakwas held out a data pad with the various results on them.

"Physically you are fine, but there are some unusual beta brain waves on the neurological scan. There was also an increase in your rapid eye movement, which as you know is associated with, well dreaming." Nodding Shepard concluded his own analysis.

"As I thought, the beacon implanted something in my head, which is probably what gave you these readings. I can't make head or tail of what it is, but the feeling of death and destruction that go along with it make it clear this was no accidental message. This was a warning about something, possibly whatever it was that wiped out the Protheans." Chakwas frowned but seemed to take his word for it, his knowledge about the human mind exceeded hers just like her knowledge of serious trauma and diseases exceeded his.

"I will add it to the report, though it is definitely the weirdest diagnosis I think I will have ever transcribed. We can look into it... Captain Anderson." Unlike most of the marines Chakwas didn't salute the captain, merely straightening slightly and nodding in his direction. Captain Anderson looked over at Shepard.

"How is he? I need a debrief on the mission as soon as possible." Before Chakwas could answer Shepard hauled himself to his feet.

"My readings are normal, my shoulder is healed and other than this headache I am good to go. Ready to give my report sir." Snapping off a salute brought a whisper of a smile to the captains face for a moment. "Glad to hear it, but Shepard, I need to talk to you...in private." The hint was clear and Ashley caught it easily enough and she saluted again.

"Very well, I will be in the mess if you need me. And Shepard, thanks for the save...again." Chakwas seemed less eager to let him go without a full examination but she sighed after a moment and turned away.

"I will check on the other injured, but keep it down, I don't want you disturbing them."  With the two women gone Anderson spoke once more.

"The beacon sure did a number on you Commander, are you sure you are okay?" The headache was now mostly gone and now Shepard could focus his thoughts he realised that he was okay, he was thinking clearer than he had for a long time.

"Angry about what happened to Jenkins, the colony and to Nihilus sir, but otherwise I am okay. If you don't mind me asking sir, what is gunnery chief Williams doing aboard the ship? And what happened to the colony?" Anderson looked out fonts med bay windows to where the woman in question was stood, obviously waiting for  them to finish.

"The colony suffered badly, almost 50% casualties by the time you arrived. But from the sounds of it you saved a fair number of people directly, and reports from the ground say the majority of the Geth stopped searching for survivors soon after you landed and headed to the spaceport. You certainly did a good job considering how unprepared you were. Williams is here for two reasons, Kaidan's report has indicated she is a superb soldier, which you will need with Jenkins out of action for the time being. Also, with her unit gone, her secondment to the Normandy saves her being muddled up in the system and losing us a valuable asset." The news about the colony was better than he expected and he certainly didn't disagree with Williams joining the team.

"She is a good soldier and has good judgement, she will be a good asset for the team. Sir, do we know why the Geth were there?" Anderson shook his head.

"No we don't but it doesn't look good for us. Nihilus is dead, the beacon destroyed and the Geth invading? The council are going to want answers, answers I don't think we can give them." Shepard shrugged, it wasn't like he had done anything wrong on the mission that he would need to hide from the council. Anderson continued speaking, his tone less friendly and more serious.

"But that's not why I needed to see you. It's about Saren, the Turian you mentioned to beta team as having shot Nihilus. Saren is a Council Spectre, one of the best and most respected of the whole group. He is like you, something of a living legend. But if he is working with the Geth, it means that he has gone rogue and rogue spectres are dangerous, especially as he hates humans."

"Why does he hate us so much?" Anderson looked up at this his expression drawn into a grimace.

"He thinks we are growing too fast, taking over the galaxy. And he isn't the only one, a lot of aliens think that way too. But Saren has allied himself with the Geth, why and how aren't important, only that he was after the beacon for some reason. You were there before the beacon overloaded, did you see anything? A clue as to what Saren might be after." The question got Shepard thinking and he came to one of two conclusions.

"The beacon gave me a series of images, a warning of sorts that seemed to imply something terrible was coming. They looked like synthetics, Geth perhaps and they were slaughtering everyone. So either Saren wanted to see that warning for himself, or he wanted to stop anyone else from seeing it, which given the number of bombs he had placed at the spaceport is quite likely."

"It is unlikely to be the Geth as it is a Prothean beacon, but this definitely is something we need to report to the council." Shepard shook his head.

"And say what, that I got a jumble of images from the beacon, something bad is coming, everyone panic?" Anderson was quick to point out something Shepard had forgotten.

"We do not know what those images mean Shepard, they could be about lost Prothean tech, the weapons of destruction that wiped the Protheans out, who knows what else. And Saren has those images, if he can work out how to read them, then he can make this attack look like an act of child's play." Shepard nodded, an army of Geth was bad enough without any other advantages to be considered.

"Not if I find a way to take him down first sir."

"It won't be that easy, he is a spectre. He can go anywhere, do almost anything. Which is why we need the council on our side." Shepard sighed, convincing politicians of anything was never as easy as Anderson had just made it out to be. They needed irrefutable evidence to have any hope of gaining the upper hand here.

"Is Nihilus' body aboard sir? If we are going to persuade the council that Saren killed him we will need to stop any accusations that we were the ones that did it." Anderson nodded and pointed out of the medbay.

"We have him in the cargo area, it was the only place we could store his body respectfully. The ship is a couple of hours out from the citadel, Joker will let you know when we have arrived, I will contact Ambassador Udina, he should be able to get us an audience with the council. If you need me, I will be in my cabin."  Shepard saluted before shaking his head.

“I should be fine, though I might borrow Kaidan to help me with the scans I need.” Anderson nodded before giving one last comment.

“Take Williams with you as well, if she is going to serve on the Normandy she will need to get to know how you work. That and I doubt you will get rid of her easily anyways, she hasn’t left your side since Alenko finished the tour of the ship.” The last comment earned a raised eyebrow as Shepard wondered quite how much his saving her life meant to the woman if she was already showing this level of dedication. Shaking it off as the Captain left the room Shepard began collecting the items he needed, there was a lot of work that needed to be done before they reached the Citadel...

***

It was a much more sombre atmosphere aboard the Normandy as the ship docked at the Citadel than when they left, which was hardly surprising. From what Shepard had heard the Council were brushing off the attack on Eden Prime as if it were the Alliances fault they had been attacked, to say nothing about the topic of Saren. The council had put Citadel Security or C-Sec in charge of the investigation into their allegations, but Anderson had definitely not sounded optimistic about the whole thing. That was fine, that just meant that Shepard had to bring his own evidence to the hearing that was to take place in a couple of hours. Shepard, Ashley and Alenko all accompanied the Captain to the human embassy aboard the Citadel, where he had the... pleasure of meeting Ambassador Udina for the first time. Seeing the man's way of dealing with the council members, Shepard couldn’t help but wonder quite how many palms had to have been greased for such a poor diplomat to make it too such a powerful position. His low opinion of the man was raised slightly in the following discussion about Saren, for the whole five seconds before Udina started berating him for the events on Eden Prime. The whole conversation left a bitter taste in his mouth as it was clear that this was as much a hearing about proving his unviability for the Spectres as it was their accusations against Saren. As Udina walked off with Anderson to discuss how to approach the meeting, Shepard heard Ashley mutter quietly.

“And that is why I hate politicians.” Which brought a small smile to his face as he wondered whether she meant Udina, the Council or both. The hearing wasn’t for a couple of hours still so Shepard decided to have a look around the citadel, he had only briefly been here on transfers between alliance vessels, not really given much time to take in the sights.

His first stop however was the blinking computer screen in the corner of the embassy office, which looked to be an official report of an alliance patrol. The contents were encrypted, but his N7 decryption A.I broke through it with little difficulty. The report was about strange readings in the Argos Rho system detected by a Captain Hendrickson. Whilst the report didn’t go into any details, the fact it occurred around the same time as the Geth attack on Eden Prime made it interesting and useful knowledge to have. Recording the report to his Omni-tool, he was surprised that neither of his companions commented on what he had just done, but he supposed that he had hardly done anything out of line, his clearance level had been more than high enough to receive the report through official channels, he had just expedited the process. Seeing nothing else of interest he headed out of the door and into the main embassy building. A quick investigation revealed that the humans were on the same section as the Elcor and Volus embassies, which were in the same room due to the lack of available space.

Heading back down the stairs Shepard greeted Saphyria, the administrator who he had met on the way to meet Udina for the first time. Whilst Shepard couldn’t stand politicians and most other bureaucrats, he knew the value of getting along with administrators and their like, especially ones like Saphyria who were actually competent at their job. His continued exploration of the building lead him to a surprising discovery, walking in through one of the other doors on the left side of the embassy Shepard found himself facing a Turian from one the data slates Anderson had shown him, who if he remembered correctly from the data he had pulled up whilst docking was Executor Pallin, head of C-Sec. Pallin looked equally surprised as he looked up from his computer.

“Commander Shepard, I did not expect to see you here. Did Ambassador Udina send you?” The tone Turian used when he used Udina’s name reinforced the idea that the ambassador was definitely not making any friends with his rather blunt tactics. Deciding to try and be diplomatic to someone he was going to need to persuade later, Shepard shook his head.

“No he didn’t, I was given leave until the hearing began and as this is my first proper time on the Citadel I decided to explore the place. I was just trying to find out who was based where in case I need to know for a mission later, I didn’t mean to disturb you if you were busy.” His response seemed to surprise the Turian for a moment.

“Humans and their curiosity, always wanting to know more and more about everything, even when that involves sticking their fingers into someone elses pie. Is that the right expression?” Shepard nodded shortly at the veiled dig, determined not to rise to the turian's bating.

“From the sounds of it, you are not very fond of humans Executor. Any particular reason why?” Pallin seemed to consider his answer for a moment.

“No, its not that I am not fond of your kind, its that I don’t trust them, not yet. Humans are eager to grab any power they can get regardless of the cost, and you have been given a lot by the Council. I suppose I cannot judge your kind based on a few cases however, you certainly act differently to Ambassador Udina, who seems to want Humanity as the councils new favourites without any work required.” Shepard resisted the urge to go and bang his head against the wall of the office.

“Really? And he wonders why the Council stonewall our every request. No wonder we are treated like second class citizens who have to fight for every scrap of respect if thats what you think all humans are like.” To his surprise Pallin actually laughed.

“Good, a human that says what he is actually thinking. It is true you have to fight for the councils respect, but that is what we have all had to do, don’t be like your ambassador and just expect an easy ride. Now, I am a busy man Commander and it is probably not good for us to be talking before your hearing, even if it is against Saren. Is there anything else you need?” It was just the way that Pallin spoke that made Shepard curious enough to ask his next question.

“Saren’s a Turian, yet you don’t seem to like him any more than you like us.” Pallin’s grin made it clear that he was more than happy to elaborate on that point.

“I don’t like Spectres as a whole, a group that is above the law if and when their members feel like it is bad enough, but they get away with it because the council doesn’t want to upset their pets. Saren is one of the worst, a loose cannon that the council won’t try and control because he doesn’t step too noticeably on their toes. Whilst I don’t believe he would go as far as to ally with the Geth, if the investigation by C-sec turns up clean it will be just as damning that he is up to something in my eyes. Is that the kind of person the galaxy needs in charge of its safety?” Shepard shook his head.

“No, but not all Spectres are like Saren, it is like any organisation there are the bad eggs.” Pallin chuckled, obviously he appreciated the human metaphors despite not trusting the race as a whole.

“True, but the potential is always there, and a rogue spectre is the most dangerous bad egg of them all.” The screen in front of Pallin lit up and he shook his head.

“Business calls, I will see you at the hearing Commander.” Deciding to go for one last win in the short conversation, Shepard saluted before leaving, Pallin’s expression unreadable as he answer the waiting video call. Once outside Shepard saw Williams leaning against the door.

“The Lieutenant went for a drink with an alliance buddy of his, he said he would meet us up at the council floor. That was some impressive diplomacy there commander. From what I have heard about him, the Executor has never been anywhere near as civil with a human as he was just then.” Shepard shrugged but didn’t offer a verbal response, it was hardly a big thing he had just done.

He completed the exploration of the embassy with a visit to the bar area, though that revealed nothing of importance or interest, so he quickly moved on, stepping out into the Presidium air with a sigh of contentment, certainly was better than the still and slightly musty air of the Normandy. Now where to go from here...

***

It turned out that two hours was more than enough time to investigate some of the citadel, especially if you covered it at a quick jog like he and Ashley had. The biggest surprise had been the meeting with the Asari consort Sha’ira, certainly not what he had expected when he and Williams had entered the building and met with her acolyte. The asari had been gracious and polite when she had invited him up to her rooms, something that he had been told could take months, both of time and out of his paycheck. She had asked for his help and whilst Shepard had been slightly put off with her unsubtle hints about how grateful she would be for his help with this Turian general, it had hardly been a difficult request. He had accepted it before the two of them were shown out into the waiting room lined with visitors waiting their turn to visit her. Ashley had rolled her eyes as they left.

“Please tell me Commander we didn’t accept that mission just because she batted her eyes at you?” Shepard laughed and shook his head.

“She was a little too forward for my liking, I did it because we will probably end up exploring Chora’s den if we get time, so why not earn a friend or two here by doing a simple job?” She gave him a deadpan look which made it clear she didn’t believe him, before dropping the subject once more. There hadn’t been time to explore any of the wards before the hearing, but Shepard had no doubt that there would be time for that whilst the council deliberated over matters. Riding the elevator up to the Council chamber he found Executor Pallin there talking to a Turian he did not recognise in the trademark blue armour of C-Sec, with Kaidan stood behind them obviously waiting for Shepard. It was the unknown Turian who was speaking angrily as Shepard entered hearing.

“Saren is hiding something. I just need more time to find it. Give me more time, stall them.” Pallin shook his head and was obviously trying to be the voice of reason.

“Stall the Council, don’t be ridiculous.Your investigation is over Garrus.” That didn’t sound at all promising for the outlook of the upcoming hearing as Pallin turned away, the newly named Garrus approaching them and bowing his head in greeting.

“Commander Shepard? Garrus Vakarin. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren.” Shepard nodded back. “It sounds like you really want to bring Saren down.” Garrus nodded whilst folding his arms across his chest.

“There is something about him that I just don’t trust. But he is a Spectre, everything he touches is classified. Trying to find hard evidence when you can’t read any of the reports certainly doesn’t help build a case.” A problem indeed, but there was no time to further discuss it as Kaidan spoke out.

“I think the council is ready for us Commander, we had better get moving otherwise we will be late.”  Bidding a hasty goodbye to Garrus who wished him luck with the council, Shepard made his way up the stairs. Captain Anderson was stood waiting for him and Shepard knew that things were not going well already.

"This way, the hearing has already started, something about other matters requiring their attention." Striding up the last set of stairs, Shepard had to appreciate the chamber the council had taken as their own. The tranquil garden setting seemed more at home in a human backyard than a administerial building, with the large bay windows looking out onto the citadel arms adding to that effect. The three council members were stood on separate stands across from Ambassador Udina, with a gigantic holo figure of a Turian stood sneering down at the four of them as they approached, Shepard assumed this was Saren. The Asari councillor was speaking from the middle stand, her tone civil but firm as she was obviously replying to one of Udina’s points.

"The Geth attack is of some concern this is true, but there is nothing to indicate that Saren was involved in anyway." The Turian councillor to her right spoke up in agreement.

"The investigation by citadel security turned up no evidence to support your allegations of treason." Udina seemed furious as he bit out his response.

"We have a witness that saw him kill Nihilus in cold blood." The Salarian spoke this time, calculating and realistic like the rest of his species.

"We have read the reports from Eden Prime, the testimony of a single traumatised dock worked doesn't make a strong case." The towering Turian scoffed.

"I resent these accusations, Nihilus was a fellow spectre. And a friend." Anderson was about to retort, his normally calm demeanour shaken by the presence of Saren, when Shepard grabbed his arm and shook his head before speaking up. He did his best to remember his public relations training both from the academy and N7 as all eyes turned to him.

"Honoured council, Spectre Saren, may I have permission to address this council with my analysis of the situation?" Saren looked down at him with baleful eyes.

"You must be Anderson's new lapdog, he always seems to be involved when humanity makes false charges against me. This is obviously an attempt to hide your destruction of the beacon." So this wasn't the first time Saren had been involved in damaging humanities interests. That would have been useful to know beforehand. To his surprise none of the council members attempted to rebuke the comments that he had thought was rather out of line, even for a Spectre. With no one jumping to his defence or to confirm that he could speak, Shepard decided to start until someone told him otherwise.

"This is no attempt to hide the fact that the beacon was destroyed, but the mechanism that lead to its destruction was not noticed before the Geth attack, as noted in Dr Warrens notes. Therefore it is likely that the Geth sabotaged the device or activated a safety protocol before we were able to secure the area. But that is not what I was talking about. Council members, if I may?" He held up his omni tool and after a moment of looking to each other the Asari nodded.

"What is it you wish to show us commander?" Shepard linked his omni tool to the main computer, a holo image appearing in front of them, constructed from his and the teams video files of the scene where they had found Nihilus.

"As I am a qualified human doctor as well as an N7 operator, I wished to get a better idea of what had happened to Spectre Nihilus as you are quite right, our witness could be mistaken in what he saw." He saw Udina throw him a warning look but Shepard ignored it as he scrolled through the data on his omni tool, an image of Nihilus' body and three Geth troopers corpses appearing amongst the various objects present in the area.

"We found three Geth that were killed by Nihilus before he died, each with single shotgun rounds to the upper torso and head." Saren sighed, obviously bored with the show.

"And what is the point of this charade human? You are wasting my time." Whilst the Turian nodded in agreement the Salarian seemed to have caught onto what Shepard was getting at, typing away as he looked at Shepard’s data.

"The bodies positions, they were all around Nihilus. Given the lack of Geth weapon damage to Nihilus' armour in your report I assume you are implying he had already cleared the area." Shepard nodded as he saw a small spark light up in the Asari's eyes as well.

"Exactly, with those three Geth and the lack of damage it was clear that not only had he cleared the area but that someone else was there than the Geth or the human witness." That caused the Salarian to frown for a moment as he obviously tried to figure out where Shepard was going with this. Typing away the fallen body of Nihilus was removed and replaced with a stood up copy of the fallen spectre, Shepard started speaking once more.

"Nihilus' body only had one wound on it, the pistol wound to the back of the head that killed him. By analysing the trajectory of the bullet." Shepard highlighted the neck area where a simulation of the kill shot showed it piercing the neck armour and then the lower skull, though he stopped it from showing the internal injuries which he thought would not help his case at this stage.

"The trajectory of the bullet wound and the muzzle flare on the damaged armour shows that the shot came almost horizontally with a slight downwards path from less than three feet away, which means..." The Asari cut him off as she put the pieces together.

"The attacker had to be taller than Nihilus to make that shot and that Nihilus had to know he was there and still turn his back on him. That definitely rules out a human, but it doesn't add to your accusations against Saren doing this or why it could not have been a Geth." Shepard shrugged and gestured at the holo simulation.

"None of the Geth that we encountered on Eden Prime carried weapons other than some strange plasma rifles and rocket launchers, nothing that could have done this. Analysis of the bullet penetration also indicates a Stinger mk VI or VII, which have only been out for a few years from Rosenkov, no one on Eden Prime had any such weapon or the means to get hold of one. I wonder, what is your sidearm of choice Spectre Saren?" He could see that his question had rattled Saren for the first time in the hearing, though it was the Salarian who spoke once more, taking control of the hologram from Shepard.

"Spectres own a range of high end weapons to outfit themselves and their allies, so whilst the pistol make makes Saren a suspect, it also implicates most the members of the council military command. Spectre Saren is also of the right height to have pulled off the shot you have shown, but again, most Turians and Salarians fit that analysis." Whilst he had no way convinced them of Saren's guilt, Shepard seemed to have certainly changed the attitude of the council members towards the hearing as a whole. Saren obviously understood this as well as he tried to bring the point away from what Shepard had said.

"This still proves nothing but that you let a Spectre die on your evaluation mission and failed to complete your objectives." Shepard smiled as he realised that Saren had slipped up for the first time with dragging the attention back to his mission.

"The mission to Eden Prime, as well as my evaluation mission were meant to be top secret Spectre, if that was the case, how do you know so much about them and the beacon?" There was a slight cough of laughter from behind him as Saren paused for a moment before answering, the pause more than enough to let Shepard knew that the Turian was not telling the entire truth.

"When Nihilus died all of his work passed to me, including the documents about the Eden Prime mission. I was given the report to read on it, I was not impressed. But then humans have always been mediocre candidates for Spectres at best." To Shepard’s surprise the Turian council member spoke up this time before he could form a retort.

"Enough Saren, your dislike of humans is well known and it should not be used as a defence in this investigation. Nor should we discuss Shepard’s application to the Spectres, that will come later and that is not your decision. Now commander Shepard, do you or your crew have any more evidence to bring to this hearing?" Shepard thought about bringing up his vision, but that would almost definitely hurt his cause rather than help it so he let it slide for now, it was in the reports anyway. Shaking his head, he knew the councils decision before they even announced it.

"The council has found that there is insufficient evidence of any connection tying Saren to the attack on Eden Prime or the Geth. Ambassador, your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectres is denied." Saren looked as smug as a Turian could as he heard the verdict.

"I am glad to see that justice was served." And then the hologram of him wavered and disappeared. The Asari looked at Shepard for a moment before speaking.

"This meeting is adjourned." Knowing a dismissal when he heard one, Shepard turned and left with Anderson, Udina standing there for a moment longer before following them out to the waiting area, where he quickly made his anger clear.

"It was a mistake bringing you to the hearing Anderson, you and Saren have too much history and he tried to take advantage of that. If Shepard hadn't stepped In that meeting would have gone a lot worse. Well done by the way Shepard, even if you didn't persuade them entirely they certainly took your evidence seriously enough to stand up to Saren at the end there. It is a start at least." Anderson shook his head clearly agitated by events.

"Saren would only ally with the Geth for one reason and that is to wipe out our entire race. Nowhere would be safe, not even Earth." Despite wanting to ask about the captains history with Saren, there were more pertinent questions to ask.

"So what is our next move?" Udina brought a hand up to his chin, resting the arm on his other arm at his waist.

"Saren is a Spectre, so he is pretty much untouchable. We need something to expose him for what he is." Kaidan spoke up at this point from where he had been stood behind Shepard.

"What about Garrus, that C-sec investigator? We saw him arguing with the Executor. He was asking for more time on his report, perhaps he was close to finding something on Saren." Udina nodded in agreement with this.

"That would be good, I have a contact named Harkin in C-sec, he could help you locate Garrus." Anderson shook his head obviously disagreeing with Udina’s statement.

"We shouldn't waste our time with Harkin, he was suspended from C-sec over a month ago, drinking on the job again." Udina rounded on Anderson at this point.

"Well he is the only contact we really have so he will have to do. I don't want you anywhere near this Anderson, the council will use your past history with Saren to discredit any findings. Shepard can handle this." It was slightly surprising to Shepard when Anderson thought about this and nodded his head, obviously at least one of the two men could place the mission over personal feelings.

"You are right Ambassador. Shepard, Harkin will probably be getting drunk in Choras den, it's a dingy little place in the lower wards. Otherwise, talk to Barla Von in the merchants district, he's an agent of the shadow broker. He works in buying and selling secrets, so he might have something on Saren. But his information won't be cheap. Now the Ambassador and I need to discuss business in his office, so I will leave it up to you from here." Bidding his goodbyes to the two of them, Shepard turned to the two members of his team.

"Right, where do we want to go break heads first?"

***

Being in the hub of galactic politics quickly reminded Shepard of how many people there were that would pay a lot of money for jobs that carried only the slightest risk. He had met a Salarian named Corban that had wanted to just take a few scans of the keepers that Shepard had seen about the place, but was worried about getting caught by the authorities over it. Shepard was certain that the worst he would get if he was caught doing it was a slap on the wrist, so he gladly accepted the Salarians offer of credits for each scan he sent in. Having found five keepers on the council tower level alone, Shepard suddenly had 5,000 extra credits in his account for no work at all.

Returning to the presidium, Shepard decided that Garrus was their best lead so they would need to make their way to the wards. On his travel round the presidium floor Shepard had dealt with a well meaning but oddly infuriating Hanar preacher, convincing it that the Protheans, or enkindlers as the Hanar had referred to them, would not have approved of the breaking of laws to spread their message. The C-Sec officer who had been arguing with the Hanar had been most impressed with Shepard’s handling of the situation, giving him a small amount of omni-gel as thanks, which Shepard planned on using to synthesise replacements for the medi gel he used on Eden Prime.

Rather than head straight to the wards, Shepard decided to check into C-Sec first, he would prefer not to trek down to the wards if he could catch Garrus there instead. This proved a vain hope, but it provided some useful info and further things to be added to his to do list. He had overheard a volume telling a C-sec officer that Chorban was trying to kill him, though the following conversation cast a lot of doubt over the severity of the allegation. It was something for him to discuss with Chorban when he next saw him, but it didn't stop Shepard from collecting the money by scanning the other keepers he found in C-Sec.

From there to the wards had been mostly uneventful, meeting the reporter Emily Wong had been a pleasant distraction, even if she had mostly wanted to ask for his help with one of her stories. She had been one of his favourite reporters during the off time he had on missions, honest and determined to get the truth, which were attributes he respected. There was also the fact she had already known about his investigation, meaning that she had a good network he could perhaps use if he helped her out.

As they entered Chora’s den, Shepard couldn't help the small grin as he remembered the 'other' incident...

*Flashback*

Looking over the city that made up the main body of the citadel, Shepard removed himself from enjoying the view as Kaidan and Ashley argued next to him.

"Maybe they just don't like humans." Ashley finished saying with a small scowl on her face. Chuckling to himself Shepard decided to poke a little fun into the situation.

"What's not to like about us? We have wonderful oceans, beautiful women and This crazy little thing called love. If we could measure up to those old vids the council would welcome us with open arms." Ashley chuckled herself as she looked out over the city, a teasing grin on her face.

"If you want me in one of those tinfoil skirts and thigh high boots, I expect dinner first." There was a pause for a moment as Ashley seemed to realise what she said before she tried to salvage the situation. "Sir."  Kaidan seemed torn between bursting out laughing and being offended by the implication, settling for a simple.

"I think that's enough chief." Chuckling as the two of them seemed unsure about his response, Shepard decided to let Ashley off the hook.

"It's all right Alenko, I can't see her as the skirt type anyways." Ashley seemed to almost collapse with relief before her bravo returned.

"Damn right you can't sir." Waiting a moment to let her lower her guard, Shepard then leaned in and in a conspiratorial fake whisper gave his last punishing remark.

"I am impressed by your standards though Williams, insisting on dinner even after I save your life." Kaidan didn't restrain his laughter this time as Ashley blushed a heavy red and took a half hearted swing at him.

*flashback end*

Totally worth the embarrassed glares that Ashley was still throwing his way. Shepard turned back to see if she was still mad when a bullet clipped the wall where he was standing, making him duck instinctively whilst going for his pistol. A pair of Turians in plain black armour were stood just outside the den, assault weapons blazing as Shepard rolled into cover slightly to the left of Ashley as she returned fire for a moment before a throw knocked her to the ground. The Turians use of biotics made them a much greater challenge than the Geth on Eden Prime, but with gratuitous use of Kaidan's lift ability and Shepard’s warp spike they were dealt with. Kaidan was obviously angry at the unprovoked attack, his emotions bleeding through as he made it clear who he thought had organised the assault.

"Those were Sarens men, I am sure of it." Shepard couldn't help but agree with him as they checked the corpses for weapons, these were no two bit thugs out for a quick bit of credit. From their gear and general skill it was almost certain these attackers had been ex-military at least. It was Ashley that spoke next having checked the pairs pouches with surprising dexterity

"No I.D's sir, should we just leave them here? C-Sec will probably be here to find out about the gunshots in the next couple of minutes." Looking around to see no one looking on, Shepard had a better idea that came from his experiences in N7 black ops missions.

"Grab their weapons and pouches Williams, they will be taken soon enough anyway and they might have information inside that is important to proving Saren’s involvement. Also we will need some more money in case we need to go buy information from this shadow broker regarding Saren." Kaidan looked a little dubious but Williams reached down to start grabbing equipment.

"Spoils of war right Commander?" Well Shepard thought as Ashley began shifting items to her backpack whilst Kaidan rather uncomfortably kept watch, at least one of them was in the right mindset.

***

Choras den had been interesting, definitely not Shepard’s scene with the dim ambience and rather questionable clientele,  but he had managed to find both Harkin and the Turian general inside. Harkin had been how Anderson had described, a bitter old drunk who honestly was an embarrassment to the entire human race, but he had given up the information regarding Garrus' whereabouts. General Septimus had been almost as bitter, but by appealing the soldiers honour and pride Shepard had managed to get Septimus’ act together. In addition the general had given them a chance to earn some more credits by saving the consorts reputation from any more damage due to the rumours he had spread about several high standing ambassadors and public figures.

With a lead on Garrus, who supposedly hunting around for information on a case at the nearby ward clinic, Shepard made his way back through the wards towards where his map said the clinic would be. They ran into Chorban in the markets, who took little persuading to reveal the illegal parts of his operation. Despite it all Shepard couldn't beget the Salarians curiosity, it was something that had affected him as a starting medic as well before the events of the Skyllian blitz. So despite his reservations Shepard agreed to keep scanning the keepers, as well as talking to Chorban’s partner to keep quiet in order to sort the whole matter out.

Shepard had also gotten Chorban to give him 10% extra for each scan! Including the ones he had done thus far, meaning he now had over 20,000 credits in his account that he could use for intel gathering. That had been Ashley's suggestion and Shepard mentally promised to get her a new pistol or something. Encouragement was always a good way of promoting useful ideas after all.

They ended up taking a wrong turn as they made their way there, not that he would admit that when Kaidan brought it up, ending up in the club flux rather than the clinic. It had caused them to head straight back to Choras den after Shepard overheard the conversation between one of the waitresses and the bartender. Informants were hardly new to him, he had several from his N7 days after all, but with how easily Rita had parted with the information about her sisters status he knew that this was serious enough to take priority over Garrus.

They arrived just in time to see Jenna, who Shepard recognised from the picture Rita had shown him, getting manhandled by a pair of Turians off to one side of the bar area. Hearing the word "snitch" and seeing no one making any move to help the poor girl, Shepard weighed into the rather one sided brawl with his fists. His first blow caught the back of the nearest Turians head, the armour like skin cracking under the force as the Turian rocked from the blow before turning to see who his assailant was. The Turian attempted an overhead swing which Shepard ducked before grabbing the arm and flipping the Turian over his shoulder. The other Turian took a run at him in time to catch a body check from Kaidan whilst Ashley made sure the other attacker was out for the count. Jenna was bruised and a little bloodied as he grabbed her arm and pulled her up, but she was still cognisant enough to ask questions as she swayed slightly.

"What...who are you guys?" Any further conversation was interrupted by the Turian Kaidan body checked staggering to his feet.

"C-Sec bastards, you and you little spy won't get away with this."  The atmosphere in the den dropped noticeably at that and Shepard decided discretion was the better part of valour. Turning to leave with Jenna on one arm he saw a couple of the patrons move to block the exit and realised that perhaps intimidation would be necessary here to stop a full on mobbing taking place. With a wave of his hand he threw one into the wall whilst Kaidan lifted the other out of the way. Turning back to the other patrons Shepard gestured around the bar with a slight smirk on his face.

"Anyone else? No? Good." And turned away before anyone could react, striding out the door and trying not to show how nervous he was. Jenna had directed them to C-Sec where an Turian officer named Chellick was waiting for them with medi-gel in hand. After they explained what happened the Turian chuckled and shook his head. "No offence commander, but what the hell were you thinking? You could have had the whole bar after your head." Shepard shrugged. "I saw Jenna needed help and didn't back down, the people in that place don't want a death of an Alliance commander on their hands, it's bad for business."

Chellick nodded and with Jenna now asleep on a makeshift bed in his office, talk turned to why she had been there. With her cover blown it hadn't taken much to convince him to cut her loose of C-sec investigations, in return for Shepard helping expose an illegal gun smuggling operation. Knowing what such often faulty and dangerous weaponry could do to the balance of power on the citadel, Shepard agreed to talk to Jax and get Chellick his evidence.

But such a mission could wait until he had found Garrus, that was the most time sensitive thing to do on his list. They took the transport system to the clinic entrance, though what they found inside was not what Shepard expected. They seemed to have walked in in the middle of a gang hit, with a human woman surrounded by three burly men pleading that she hadn't said anything to anyone on the far side of the main counter. Garrus was also there, sneaking forwards out of sight of the ganders, probably to get a better shot. The leader of the ganders noticed the door opening at their arrival though, grabbing the woman and using her as a shield as he raised a pistol in Shepard’s direction.

"Who are you!" Shepard drew his own pistol as the three of them moved into the room.

"Let her go kid." He shifted to the right, the man following him with his pistol, exposing him further as Garrus spun round the far end of the counter. The Turian wasted no time, dropping the man in a single shot as the woman called out in shock. She dropped to the floor as Garrus stood with pistol ready. There had been four other gangers present, but they were badly trained and equipped, meaning it did not take long to deal with them. Walking up to Garrus as he holstered his pistol, the Turian seemed more than happy to see him.

"Perfect timing Shepard, you even gave me a clear shot at the bastard." Shepard shook his head, whilst things had worked out it had been a close run thing and if he hadn’t shown up...

"You took a big risk, if I hadn't have been there you could have hit the hostage. And the other four would probably have overwhelmed you. " Garrus spluttered for a moment, obviously realising his mistake as he turned back to the doctor.

"There wasn't time to think about it, I just reacted. I didn't mean to, Dr Michel are you hurt?" The newly named Dr Michel shook her head as she brushed herself off and looked around the room.

"No I am fine thanks to you. Those were Fists men, they wanted me to not tell Garrus about the Quarian." Shepard quirked an eyebrow.

"A Quarian? I assumed this has to do with the investigation into Saren you were doing Garrus?" Garrus nodded before speaking shortly.

"I think it might, tell us what you know Dr Michel." Dr Michel seemed unsure for a moment before squaring her shoulders and speaking quickly.

"A few days ago a Quarian came to the clinic. She had been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who had done it or let me contact the authorities. I see cases like this all the time, probably on the run from someone or something. She wanted to know about the shadow broker, said she wanted to trade information for a safe place to hide. I put her in contact with Fist, who is a broker for the Shadow Broker here on the wards." Garrus shook his head at this.

"Not anymore he doesn’t, Fist now works for Saren and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about that. If we haven't heard anything since, I am assuming that Fist now has the Quarian and that the Quarian has something Saren wants, enough that he is prepared to piss off the Shadow Broker to get it." Dr Michel suddenly snapped her fingers.

"Geth, the information she wanted to trade was about the Geth." Garrus looked even more pleased than before and Shepard could easily understand why given the new information. "Whatever she has might be able to link Saren to the Geth. The council cannot ignore that."   Shepard nodded in agreement but given the body count he had already stacked up on his investigation thus far he had something he needed to do first.

"It sounds like we need to go pay Fist a visit then. Want to come with us Garrus? I need to talk to Pallin but I think this will go over better if this little trip has his sanctioning before we blow up any more of the Citadel." Garrus looked at him as if he had just spoken in another language, obviously the idea hadn’t occurred to him to go straight to the top of the pecking order.

"I-I didn't think of that, I just thought we were going to charge on down there and take names. Speaking of names, there is someone else we could enlist if we were going to try and keep this low key. There is a bounty hunter, a Krogan by the name of Wrex. He has been hired to remove Fist from the Shadow Broker’s list of problems and from the reports I have read is more than worth the effort of joining up with." Shepard couldn't argue with that, a Krogan was equivalent to a force of nature being unleashed, very good to have on your side in a fight.

"Sounds a good plan, but first, let us go talk to his employer and make sure we won't have bounty hunters coming after us next if we do bring him into our little group."

Timeskip:

They had headed up to the Presidium to go and talk to Barla Von at that point, Shepard sending Kaidan off to inform the elcor ambassador of the news the general had given him as well as updating Captain Anderson and executor Pallin of what was going on. Those conversations would keep him busy for some time so he had told Kaidan to wait in the embassy and he would come and fetch him once he had sorted things, more than three people running around on the citadel and things got crowded anyway. Barla Von had not really revealed anything new other than it seemed Saren was making more enemies than they had thought, having stepped on several large groups toes in the last year in a blunt manner that seemed unlike the normally cautious and shrewd Spectre With that lead being a bust Shepard received confirmation from Kaidan that the elcor diplomat had been informed of the truth and was backing down, but that Pallin wished to speak with him via commlink. Making his way towards the consorts building Shepard accepted the incoming call.

"Shepard, your lieutenant has informed me of what you have found and what happened in Dr Michels clinic. I have teams setting up some security there now in case anyone else tries something. Your lieutenant wouldn't tell me what you think you will find with Fist, but given that Garrus has joined up with you I will assume it is to do with Saren and not ask. C-Sec is not the most secure place for that kind of talk. I will clear a 'C-Sec' raid of the premise when you call me to let me know you are going in, less chances of leaks that way. Anything else I should know commander?" Shepard thought about it and decided to keep the executor in the know, best to keep such an ally on their side.

"I am planning on enlisting a Krogan who is also after fist to help us raid the place, with the number of thugs Fist has he will prove useful." He heard Pallin sigh before answering.

"Wrex I presume? Be careful commander, that's one tough bastard you're enlisting. I will get my men to release him, he will be in C-sec shortly if you wish to try and talk to him. Pallin out."  Well at least it was good to know that they were now going to be killing people under official sanctions.

The consort had been... Well appreciative was probably the best word for her attitude. She had given them credits as well as a strange trinket that she felt would be best in his hands, but it was her words that struck Shepard. She summed up his past and present feelings with a few simple lines, digging deeper than anyone had ever managed to before and healing scars he had long forgotten festering in the darkness. It was in that moment that Shepard truly respected her abilities to read a person, leaving him slightly humbled as he departed the consorts chambers, with one of the attendants grabbing him in the lobby and giving him a number to contact them and the consort if he needed them once more.

With his mind at peace, Shepard headed for the transit system point, he had a Krogan to talk to...

***

Two grenades and a hail of fire destroyed the turrets set up at the back of the office as Shepard threw Fist against the back wall of his work room.

"Where is the Quarian Fist?" Shepard ground out as he pointed his pistol at Fists head.

"She's not here, I don't know where she is. That is the truth!" Judging by the chuckle from Wrex as he and Ashley finished checking for other hostiles whilst Garrus dealt with the safe combination in the room, that answered pleased him. Why it did so was made clear by the Krogan’s next words.

"Well, he is no use to you now Shepard. Let me kill him and we can get onto searching for this Quarian in peace."  Shepard didn't know whether Wrex had done it on purpose but he had managed to make Fist want to talk a whole lot more.

"Wait! I don't know where she is right now but I know where she will be soon. She ran off soon after arriving, only wanted to deal with the shadow broker himself. I knew it was impossible but she didn't need to know that, I sent her a meeting time and place. When she shows up, it will be Sarens men waiting for her not the shadow brokers." Shepard growled and grasped Fist by the neck pulling him close.

"Tell me where the meeting is. Now!" Fist visibly baulked and was quick to continue talking.

"It's not far from here, in the back alley behind the market, she is supposed to be meeting them in ten minutes. You can make it if you hurry." Shepard let go of him intending to do just that, when Fist suddenly drew a grenade out from his armour.

"But not if I...urgh!" Before he could finish his statement Wrex and Ashley had each fired a shotgun round, leaving him a bloody stain on the walls as the grenade dropped to the ground having never been armed. Wrex shook his head with a muffled grunt of "Idiot!" even as Shepard grabbed the grenade and put it on his belt to replace one of the ones he had used to destroy the turrets. Garrus quickly connected to the storage device that had been attached to Fists desk, waving them off as Shepard moved to help him.

"You go for the Quarian, I will see what else I can find here before the official team arrives and copy it all, don't want to risk one of them being loyal to Saren and destroying evidence." Remembering they were on a clock and that if Fist had known they were coming so had Saren, Shepard turned quickly and headed for the door, calling out on the way.

"Wrex, you still with us?" The Krogan fell in behind him with another throaty chuckle.

"The chance to smash heads without getting into too much trouble for it? What do you think?"

***

Racing to the location Fist had given them, Shepard could overhear the conversation taking place as the three of them moved into cover. The lead Turian approached the Quarian, obviously in a hurry to get the job done with.

"Did you bring it?" Rather than reply straight away the Quarian took a step away from him cautiously.

"Where is the shadow broker? Where is Fist?" She was surprisingly firm for someone who was outnumbered 3-1. The Turian seemed to resist the urge to groan.

"They will be here, now where is the evidence." Obviously he had said or done something wrong as the Quarian took another step back before giving her answer.

"No way, the deal is off." Obviously the wrong thing to say as the two Salarians who had been waiting in the background drew their pistols ominously. The Quarian sprinted away from them towards cover, throwing a grenade with surprising accuracy between the two of them, knocking them to the floor. Shepard stood from cover and fired even as the Turian assassin clipped the Quarian with a pair of shots to the shoulder. Wrex charged in, forgoing shooting for momentum as he bodily picked the Turian up and slammed him across the room. Ashley dropped the still alive Salarian leaving Shepard to rush to the Quarian. Her shields and armour had absorbed most of the blow, but she was still bleeding from the shoulder and breathing heavily. She seemed to ignore that though as she rounded on them angrily.

"Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him." Knowing how Quarian armour and their immune systems worked, Shepard applied a shot of medi-gel to the nearest port on the armour.

"That should fix you up enough to get you out of here. Any other injuries?" The Quarian seemed surprised at his accurate treatment before shaking her head.

"I was unlucky, I know how to look after myself. Sorry, that was rude, I do appreciate your assistance even if the Krogan seems a little... Bloodthirsty. Who are you and why did you help me?" Looking over to where the Turians head had been ripped from its shoulders Shepard couldn't help but agree with her assessment.

"He is effective though you have to admit. I am Commander Shepard and I am leading an investigation into the Spectre Saren and his ties with the Geth. It was lucky that our investigation lead us here when it did." Her laboured breathing had relaxed a little now and she seemed a little more stable on her feet.

"Well commander, it seems like I have a way of repaying your saving my life after all. But we shouldn't do it here. More of these men might come if they don’t report in. We need somewhere safe for this discussion." The sound of movement from behind them caused everyone to turn with weapons raised, relaxing when they saw it was Garrus. Reaching across Shepard forced the Quarians pistol down gently.

 

"Don't worry, he is with us. C-Sec turning Chora's den over then?" Garrus nodded and held up a credit chip and a storage device.

"They are doing it now, found lots of illegal drugs, weapons and even a couple of women who have been missing for a couple of days in the back room. The Sergeant in charge took over and seemed very intent on getting me to leave, but not before I removed a copy of all the data on Fists computer. C-Sec will want to cover this all up, but I think it's time for some truth to get out on this whole thing." Thinking back to Wong and her request for information, Shepard hummed before nodding.

"Give it here Garrus, I think I know just the person for the expose. Now, let's get to Pallin’s office and let him know what has happened, we can discuss the evidence there and I can make sure that our newest member is properly patched up." His comment had the Quarian turn to him with body language that screamed surprised and unsure, emotions that seemed very in line with her cautious and socially awkward attitude. Something he would have to get to the bottom of when they had finished their official business...

***

The debriefing had been interesting to say the least, with executor Pallin seeming more on his side than Udina did,  the human ambassador stormed in shouting at Shepard about the reports of gun battles on the wards only for the executor to shove the paperwork in his face proving Shepard had acted as a contracted C-sec agent for the operation and therefore had done nothing wrong. The credits that had been added to the groups various accounts for the raid definitely helped the feeling of satisfaction that had built up inside at seeing Udina lost for words.

The Quarian introduced herself at Tali’Zorah nah Rayya, on her 'Pilgrimage' or right of passage, something she explained as a tradition that brought new resources and knowledge back to the rather stretched Quarian fleet. Her report made it clear that not only was she talented and capable, but also that she had an intimate knowledge of the Geth that went far beyond anyone else Shepard knew. Making a note to keep an eye out for other Quarians with similar knowledge Shepard found a new respect for the race he had never really dealt with and had rather foolishly believed the general consensus that they were thieves and beggars for the most part. Despite this, it was the file she recovered that was the true gold mine they had been looking for, as Saren’s voice spoke out loudly and clearly for all to hear.

"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacons message has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit." The look on Pallin’s face made Shepards day even as Tali had injected into their conversation about what the conduit was, revealing that Saren had not been working alone. After pressing a button on her omni tool  another voice spoke, this one female and sounded Asari-like more than anything.

"And one step closer to the return of the reapers."  There was silence for a moment before Udina spoke, looked as puzzled at this new revelation as the rest of the did...

"I don't recognise the voice, the one talking about the reapers." Pallin shook his head as well.

"Neither do I, but this is definitely enough for the council to get Saren removed from the Spectres. I will ask for an emergency appointment with them now." He moved off to the far wall, leaving them to talk amongst themselves. Unsure of what the female had been referring to, Shepard brought up his query.

"What are these reapers she refers to? Some kind of new alien species?" Tali shook her head and answered before anyone else could.

"According to the Geth data banks I have retrieved over the last two years the reapers are a race of hyper advanced machines that completely wiped out the Protheans 50,000 years ago before vanishing. That is what the Geth believe anyway." Suddenly the vision he had received on Eden Prime made a lot more sense, prompting his defence of Tali when Udina dismissed her argument. Udina was right about the council however and Shepard knew it was going to be a tough sell. Pallin came over with an also smug look on his face.

"The council will see us in half an hour. Get your team up there ready Commander, it's your show." Wrex brought up the elephant in the room as he pointed at Tali. "And what do we do with the Quarian? And I don’t know whether or not I am counted in ‘your team’ or not Shepard." Shepard had been planning on offering both of them a spot on his newly formed team of misfits even before she stood up for herself and replied hotly.

"My name is Tali! Commander, you saw me in the alley, you know I can stand up for myself and that I am knowledgeable in combating the Geth. Please take me onto your squad, otherwise I will have to return to the flotilla with nothing." Shepard decided to bite at the unsubtle lead the Quarian had obviously left for him to bite upon.

"Why would you need to return to the fleet? What about your pilgrimage?" Tali wrung her hands together uncomfortably at this.

"With me giving you this data, I have nothing to give the Shadow broker in return for protection against any other agents Saren has. That means that the only way I will be safe is to return to the fleet or join your crew, at least then I will not have to watch my back all of the time." It was a surprisingly realistic outlook for one so  young, reinforcing Shepard’s opinion of her even as he nodded his assent.

"Well I could use all the help we can get, and I am sure that Captain Anderson won't mind having a Geth specialist aboard in case we encounter them again whilst hunting Saren. " Anderson nodded.

"Very true, the Alliance has no real knowledge of the Geth, so your information will prove more than useful. I am happy to bring you aboard the Normandy, but you will have to agree to several conditions before doing so." Tali nodded eagerly, almost jumping up and down with happiness.

"Thank you, captain, Commander, this means so much to me." Both Garrus and Wrex seemed to be waiting for word to the same effect from him and Shepard knew that he wanted them based on the skills he had seen thus far.

”The same could be said for a C-sec investigator, we will need the extra manpower and he has already proved himself very reliable in finding information both electronically and otherwise. But I wouldn’t want to take him away from his duties here without consulting you first Executor.” Pallin chuckled to himself as he looked across at Garrus then back to Shepard.

“You are getting a little ahead of yourself Commander, I would wait until the Council swear you in as a Spectre before gathering a strike team.” Shepard was surprised at the certainty in the man’s voice, it obviously showed on his face as Pallin gestured at him then at his screen on his desk. “I saw your display in the Council chambers before and that was better investigatory instincts and skill than most Spectre veterans possess. Then there is the fact that you have been on the citadel for less than 24 hours and yet you have done more to take out organised crime in the wards than my operatives have managed in a month, with half the paperwork and minimal collateral damage. I have already put my personal recommendation into the council, as have the Elcor and Hanar diplomats. If the council didn’t make you a Spectre as a result of showing Saren’s true colours there would be a political uproar that they would struggle to survive.”

The Executor had obviously been keeping tabs on Shepard since he had first gone to see him and that made him wonder exactly what else the wizened Turian knew about Shepard’s activities. Not that he was going to look a gift horse in the mouth however as having the head of C-Sec on his side was already paying dividends from the sounds of it. Bidding the Turian farewell Shepard’s group with Anderson and Udina in tow began to move towards the stairs. As they made their way down to the embassy entrance, an Indian looking man approached and announced his intent in a respectful but urgent manner.

"Commander Shepard? Could I have a moment of your time? I am sorry to disturb you but I have nowhere else to turn to." Shepard gestured to the others, the man probably was connected to the work he had done on the wards today and just wanted to talk about it, he had the time to spare and talking with people rarely did any harm..

"This will probably not take long, go on ahead and I will grab the next transit car. It's not a problem sir, what can I do to help?" Shepard noticed out of the corner of his eye Kaidan and Ashley discuss something for a moment before Ashley moved back to him, Tali not having moved from his left side at all. Wrex chuckled, something the rather surprisingly well-humoured Krogan seemed to do a lot.

"Someone already seems to be watching your back in a manner of speaking, see you up there Shepard." Ashley blushed slightly at this and whilst Tali had her armour to hide such an obvious hint at her emotions, her shifting body language told much the same story. Turning back to the man as the others walked off, Shepard gestured for him to continue .

"I am Samesh Bhatia and I wanted to speak about my wife. She was a marine serving in the 212." Ashley spoke up at this point with a slight surprised tone. "Wait, the 212? Your wife was serviceman Nirali Bhatia? I am Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams, I served in her unit." The man gave a testy smile as he nodded but his voice when he spoke was full of genuine affection.

"Chief Williams, it is a pleasure. Nirali spoke of you with great respect." Ashley seemed to be remembering the woman in question as she replied.

"She was a great woman to serve with and be a friend of. I am so sorry for your loss Mr Bhatia, what can we do for you?" The man shook for a moment, anger and agony in equal measure clear on his face.

"I requested that my wife's body be returned to me for cremation, but the military has refused my request." Shepard frowned, that was definitely not something the military would normally refuse.

"Did they give a reason for this?" Samesh shook his head, seeming completely at a loss at the way events had gone for him.

"They did not, all I know is that they declared that my wife's body could not be returned to me." Shepard could think of several reasons why the body could not be returned, especially if she had been turned into one of those husks, but he decided this was worth a very quick detour. "I will do my best to get your wife's body returned to you, or at least find out the true reason why it can't be. I won't lie to you though Mr Bhatia, a reason they don't want to release your wife's body to you that is because it is to prevent you any further pain." Samesh nodded and pointed him in the direction of the man in charge of the case, who was supposedly working in the embassy lounge. Heading up to the bar area Shepard saw the man, a Mr Bosker, leaning against one of the pillars having a drink. Walking over to him, Shepard didn't get a chance to start as the man straightened up and started speaking.

"My goodness, you are commander Shepard aren't you?" Shepard heard Tali whisper to Ashley

"How does everyone know Shepard? I don’t know anyone who has such widespread acclaim amongst the Quarian fleet other than the Admirals." The point about his unrealised and rather unwanted fame rested firmly in the back of Shepard’s mind even as he went to reply.

"Mr Bosker, I am here to discuss the trouble Samesh Bhatia is having with with claiming his wife's body. Now I was on Eden Prime so I know that some of the bodies are unreturnable, but I don't think that this is the case here otherwise you would have told him that." Bosker reached up and grabbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Ah yes, a frustrated man in a difficult position, I wish I could help him. The reason we are holding her body is that her wounds were inconsistent with any type of weapon damage we have seen before. If we can study these wound we may be able to..." Shepard shook his head and Bosker trailed off, memories of his past breaking through into the tone of his reply.

"When the Batarian slavers attacked Mindoir all of those years, they killed my whole family and if I hadn’t managed to escape I would have joined them. My father's body was the only one the Alliance recovered after the incident. The weapon used to kill him had been coated in some kind of toxin that the alliance had never encountered, so despite my protests they took his body away for 'some short tests'. I never got to bury him, some clerical mix up meant they burnt his body whilst I was at the academy. So I know why the body could be useful Bosker, but we don't need it that much." Bosker seemed too shocked by the personal to speak for a moment, and Shepard could tell by the silence behind him the others were similarly surprised, before he nodded shakily.

"You, you are right Commander, I will oversee the transfer myself. I had no idea." The man walked away stiffly as Shepard struggled to control the memories he had just brought back to the surface. A hand on his shoulder calmed him and Ashley spoke softly, quite different from her normal brash and ready persona.

"Commander, do you need a moment?" Shaking his head to clear the mind, Shepard turned around and headed for the door, but he made sure to toss a thankful smile to the now back to normal marine.

"No, let us go tell Mr Bhatia the good news then head up, we cannot keep the council waiting." To uncover a Spectres true motives and if all goes well to secure his own momentous position amongst the legendary organisation, certainly not a bad final achievement to add to what had been a very productive day...

 

 


	3. To Spectre is a great and wonderful thing

“Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit.” The sound of Saren’s voice being played out loud as he walked up the stairs brought a surprising feeling of smug satisfaction to Shepard’s stomach, the Turian had been too cocky about their accusations and was now going to pay for it in spades.

 

“And one step closer to the return of the Reapers.” The unfamiliar voice still vexed Shepard, Saren obviously still had pawns hidden in the shadows and every one of them would give him another advantage. Udina stepped forwards and pointed imperiously up at the Council.

 

“You wanted proof. There it is.” It seemed that the Council had realised the magnitude of their folly as none of them rebuked Udina for his pomp, instead the Turian councillor was almost reticent when he spoke.

 

“This proof is irrefutable, Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him to justice.” When the Turian finished speaking the Asari spoke with a slightly disbelieving tone tinging her melodic voice.

 

“I recognise that other voice, the one speaking with Saren in the recording. As much as I don’t want to believe it, that is the voice of Matriarch Benezia.” Shepard was not as up to date with Asari culture as he would perhaps have liked, but anyone with an obviously powerful title like Matriarch was not someone he wanted on Saren’s side.

 

“I am unfamiliar with the term Matriarch and this Benezia Councillor, would you please enlighten us?” The Asari nodded, tone firmer as she spoke of the culture of her people.

 

“Matriarchs are powerful Asari who have entered the final stages of their lives. They are revered for their wisdom and collected experiences, often they serve as guides or teachers to my people. Due to their hallowed status, Matriarchs are venerated by many young Asari who will follow their path almost without question. Matriarch Benezia is one of the most powerful biotics of her generation and her teachings have given her many followers. If for whatever reason she has allied herself with Saren, then she will give him a formidable array of resources to wield in addition to his established Spectre network.”Shepard felt like turning and smashing his head against a wall, an ex-Spectre with an army of Geth and allied with a very powerful Asari with a sizable force of her own at her beck and call? This day just keeps getting better and better. The Salarian spoke up in the ensuing silence, obviously eager to shift the focus away from what was quickly becoming an Asari political embarrassment.

 

“I am more interested in Saren’s mention of the Reapers in the recording, obviously if he was on Eden Prime for the Beacon as has now been proven, he is trying to gather information on them. Captain Anderson, Commander Shepard, what do you know about them?” Anderson took a step forward and Shepard let his superior speak, he could tag on any other information the captain didn’t mention at the end.

 

“Only what Tali here managed to extract from the Geth data core along with the recording about Saren.” The mention and gesture to the nervous Quarian girl had the Salarian narrow his eyes in distaste whilst the Turian full on frowned, the two's expressions making Tali look like she was about to bolt. As Anderson carried on speaking Shepard made a rather rash decision and stepped across to stand between Tali and the council, crossing his arms and giving a blank stare as the Turian focussed on him whilst the Salarian looked away a little uncomfortably. “The Reapers are an ancient race of machine that wiped out the Protheans before suddenly, they vanish from the known galaxy.” Seeing his chance to interject with his view as Anderson finished speaking, Shepard spoke up, his eyes never leaving the Turian councillors own.

 

“The Geth seem to revere the Reapers almost as Gods and whether using the Geth for his own ends or because he actually believes he can do so, Saren is becoming their Prophet for the Reapers return. Whatever this Conduit is that Saren mentions, it is obviously key to bringing them back. That is why he attacked Eden Prime, he is searching for it and the Beacon was a clue.” The Councillors looked unconvinced even as Shepard spoke, but that was unsurprising as it was one hell of a tough sell.

 

“Do we even know what the conduit is that they are searching for?” The Salarian was at least being objective if sceptical about the whole thing which was something Shepard could certainly respect. Seeing Anderson glance at him it was obvious he was to field the question.

 

“No we don’t, but does that really matter Councillors? Saren believes it exists and has shown that he will happily destroy entire colonies in his attempts to find it.” The Turian almost didn’t speak at that comment, seeming to second guess himself for a moment before uttering a response.

 

“Listen to yourself Commander. You think that Saren wants to bring back an armada of machines that wiped out all advanced life in the galaxy 50,000 years ago? It is impossible nonsense. It has to be. If the Reapers do exist, where did they go? Why would they leave after completely winning what must have been a costly conflict for them? And there has been no trace of their existence other than a few garbled texts obviously written by mad men? If they were real, we would have had to have found something!” Obviously the Turian was more focussed on quelling the panic that would arise from the existence of a galaxy cleansing machine attack than trying to prevent the possibility of it happening. Shepard sighed, he could already see where this was going.

 

“Regardless of whether or not the Reapers are still around, the fact that Saren is searching the galaxy for them is proof enough we need to take action, better to have taken action needlessly than have been caught unawares.” The Asari shook her head, which didn’t really surprise Shepard all that much.

 

“What you are proposing is different to the issue of dealing with Saren. I will admit we were wrong about Saren and you proved that, for some reason he is after this conduit device, but we do not really know why. The Reapers are obviously just a myth Commander, one that Saren is using both to utilise the Geth as well as to hide his true purpose, whatever that may be.” The Salarian seemed a bit unsure of the Asari’s words but kept his mouth shut as the Turian councillor weighed in.

 

“Not that it matters any more, Saren has been stripped of his title, resources and manpower. Whatever he hoped to achieve will be difficult whilst he has no means to achieve them.” Shepard actually couldn’t believe the Turian’s comment given what they had just discussed, barely restraining himself from shouting out as Udina spoke once more.

 

“That is not enough, we know he is hiding in the Traverse somewhere, we should send in a fleet and root him out!” The Salarian shook his head.

 

“A fleet is not a suitable implement for hunting down one man Ambassador. Such an action could well trigger a war with the Terminus systems, something that would be a far greater catastrophe than Saren’s individual actions.” Enough was enough Shepard thought, obviously the Council were now trying to collectively sweep the whole problem under the proverbial rug and there was no way he was going to let that happen without a fight.

 

“I’m sorry Councillors, but I feel you are failing to grasp the size of Saren’s resources here. He has an Asari Matriarch allied to him which you yourself said would give him a large number of followers, contacts and power enough to turn one of the Shadow Brokers agents traitor without even being present on the citadel and of course the small factor of the army of Geth and their ship which is roughly the size of the Ascension! The man probably has more resources available to him now than most Alliance fleets and we are not taking any serious action over it?” He had probably gone to far, judging by the looks both Captain Anderson and Udina were sending him, but someone had to say it. Whilst the Turian councillor looked ready to leap across and attack Shepard for his insolence, the Salarian looked thoughtful and slightly abashed.

 

“You... You definitely do not hide your feelings or mince your words Commander Shepard, something I think my fellow Councillors are not used to. I agree with you, this is a threat we cannot simply ignore but you must understand, we as the Council cannot bring the Galaxy into turmoil rashly. Even with the threat Saren poses to humanities colonies.” The Salarian’s words seemed to light a fire in Udina as he whirled back to face the council, voice loud and angry.

 

“Enough, I have had it with the anti-human resentment shown here, you have in effect given this lap-dog of yours enough power and resources to damage humanities interests for decades if not centuries to come, and now we have proof he was acting against us you say you will do nothing? You might as well be giving Saren’s attacks against us your personal blessing!” Shepard had to admit Udina had a surprising gift for altering the tone and meaning of a conversation to his advantage as from the viewing corridors off to either side there was suddenly an angry muttering from human and alien alike at the idea this could just be one giant Council black-ops mission. The Asari councillor seemed to realise they had been backed into a corner as she raised her arms for silence, the quiet taking some time to be achieved as C-sec officials moved quickly to be stood at the forefront of the milling crowds of ambassadors and officials. When she felt that order had been restored and that C-sec were properly in control of the situation, the Asari councillor spoke with a hint of anger of her own inflecting noticeably on her hushed tone.

 

“I would remind you of who you are speaking to before you accuse us so blatantly of corruption and wrongdoing Ambassador Udina! We have not and will not give Saren any such support that you have alluded to, but for us to strike out into the Terminus blindly and without direction would be worse for everyone including humanity. What I was going to say before your brazen attempt at mob politics hit the stage was that there is another option, one that does not involve fleets or armies directly.” The Turian Councillor seemed to understand what she was getting at and slammed a fist into the podium.

 

“No! Humanity is not ready for the responsibility...” The Turian though obviously incensed trailed off quickly as the Asari turned a baleful glare in his direction even as grumbling erupted in the watching crowds once more. She assessed the tension in the room before whispering across to the Turian, Shepard only catching it as he had his suit microphone trained on her.

 

“This situation is already a political nightmare as it is, if we are seen to do nothing now the Alliance could well break from the Council if not worse! This way we do not risk Galactic war and give humanity what we were going to give them anyway!” With that the Asari looked over to the Salarian Councillor, who nodded quickly before turning back to face the three humans. The Turian looked like he was going to refuse for a moment but then all three typed something into the console in front of them, the Asari councillor speaking up a moment later.

 

“Commander Shepard, step forward.” A glance to Shepard’s right and a quick nod from Anderson told Shepard that this was about to be the big moment he had been told to expect upon landing on the Citadel from Eden Prime. Stepping up so that he was stood next to Udina, he looked around to see the viewing platforms quiet and in obvious anticipation of what was to come. “It is the decision of the Council, having reviewed your actions both on Eden Prime and before that, to grant you all of the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Council.”This was obviously a scripted piece of the ceremony as the Salarian Councillor spoke up without pause.

 

“Spectres are not trained, they are chosen for their fine qualities, forged in the fire of service and honed on the field, those whose actions raise them above others of rank and file.”It seemed that for whatever reason the Turian was not getting to say anything as the Asari Councillor continued.

 

“The Spectres are an ideal, a symbol to the rest of the galaxy. The embodiment of courage, determination and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will. Spectres bear a great burden. They are the protectors of galactic peace, both the first and last line of defence. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold above all other oaths. You are the first human to have been granted the title of Spectre Commander, a great accomplishment for both you and your species as a whole.” Seeing that this was in effect a rather weighty olive branch the Council were trying to pacify him with, Shepard decided to be the better man as he bowed his head.

 

“I am honoured by this Councillors. What would you wish for me to do?”  The Salarian spoke up whilst the Asari and Turian exchanged words.

 

“We’re sending you into the Traverse after the Rogue Saren. He is a fugitive from justice, so you are authorised to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him.” The inflection made it clear which method the Salarian councillor would prefer, after all dead men cannot spread further embarrassment for their former masters at a trial.

 

“Any idea where I might start looking for him Councillors? The Traverse is a big space to cover...”

 

The Turian spoke at last, resigned to following the rest of the Council’s path. “We will forward any relevant files to Ambassador Udina. Further discussion will take place in more... secure settings.” With that it was clear the Council were finished, the Asari ending it promptly but could do nothing to stop the whispered conversations that were being conducted as the various spectators began to disperse. Shepard led Anderson and Udina down to where the rest of his motley team were waiting, Wrex being the first to step forwards and give Shepard a friendly shoulder thump that nearly sent him to the floor.

 

“Brilliant stuff Shepard, Ambassador, never seen a human treat the Council like that before, way more exciting than a normal meeting! Will make a Krogan out of you yet Shepard.” Ashley seemed torn between amusement and horror at the idea, Tali giving an awkward giggle before speaking up herself.

 

“Yes, congratulations Shepar... I mean Spectre sir. Thank you for standing up for me up there.” Shepard couldn’t help but chuckle and grab the Quarian in a one armed hug.

 

“No sirs or anything like that, this promotion was as much to get the Council out of the political shit storm we created for them as anything else. I will take Shepard or Commander, as at least I have earned that particular title.” A throaty chuckle alerted Shepard to the approach of Executor Palin, who worked his way through the half a dozen C-sec officers that were stopping the crowd of others from swarming.

 

“I wouldn’t be quite so negative about it all Shepard, as I said before you were pretty much a shoe in for the job, though the subtle hint of riots on the citadel always helps bring the Council to a quick decision. I worry that if you can achieve this already, what you will be able to do when you have settled into your new position...” Shaking his head, Palin seemed to shudder slightly at the thought before continuing. “Of course, this was the easy part, there is still much you need to do I imagine. Garrus, come here.”  The Turian looked slightly nervous as he moved to stand in front of the Executor, who looked him up and down for a moment before raising a hand a lightly clouting Garrus round the head. Garrus seemed used to the action as he didn’t even flinch as Palin shook his finger in front of him for a moment. “Garrus, no matter what I do you seem to get yourself into trouble and I get the feeling that you already have your heart set on getting into some more, am I right?” Garrus brought his hand up in a hurried salute before nodding.

 

“Executor, I request permission to take an extended leave of absence and continue my work with Commander Shepard in the apprehension of Saren.” It was surprising to see Garrus act like the awkward subordinate given his normal attitude, but obviously the relationship between Pallin and Garrus was more complex than Shepard had initially thought. Pallin gave him a long look before facing Garrus once more.

 

“I am afraid I can’t do that Investigator Garrus, taking a leave of absence would mean a suspension of your official powers and is completely unacceptable...” Pallin paused just long enough for Garrus’ face to fall before letting a smile broach his face. “That is why you will instead get a transfer to a newly formed special operations unit, I just need Spectre Shepard to officially request it and the paperwork on my desk by the end of the day. Congratulations again for your Spectre status Commander, I hope you are ready for the responsibilities that come with your position...” And without waiting for a reply the Executor turned on his heel and moved towards the crowd, giving shouted orders even as he approached.

 

“The executor is right, there is much you will need Shepard and from the looks of it the Council is not giving it to you. You will need a ship, crew and supplies. Anderson, I will need you to help me prepare things for him. Get a nights rest Commander, I should have something for you in the morning.” Udina seemed happier than Shepard had seen him thus far and shook hands with him quickly before the Ambassador rushed off. Anderson chuckled and shook his head as he stepped up and shook hands with him as well.

 

“Well, at least one of us is happy with what happened there. Congratulations again Commander, I will leave you with your new Special Ops group. I will file the transfer orders for Williams and Alenko this evening. I will be in the embassy if you need me Commander, but I suggest visiting the Spectre requisition officer in C-sec before you do anything else, after dealing with your new fans of course.” As the flashes indicated the arrival of the Citadel press, Shepard cursed mentally even as he steeled himself for what was to come...

 

Timeskip: 24 hours.

 

It was an odd feeling to say the least, waking from a proper bed for the first time in almost two years, even more so doing so in the captain’s room of his own ship. The gift of the Normandy to him was obviously as much a political move against Anderson as it was for him to utilise, but the old veteran had been a relatively good sport about it so Shepard couldn’t get too mad about it. Realising that he had slept in slightly longer than normal he hurriedly moved for the shower, before getting changed quickly. Shepard had just gotten his combat fatigue trousers on when the door beeped open and Ashley stepped in. To her credit there was no obvious reaction to the uncomfortable situation as she snapped to attention.

 

“Sorry Commander, I assumed given the door being unlocked that you were awake and ready in here.” She was keeping her gaze firmly on the wall to his left, which was the only sign of discomfort as he straightened up and grabbed his fatigue top.

 

“Not too worry Williams, I forgot to lock it when we boarded last night, it is hardly something I am used to. Now what is it you needed?”  As he pulled the fatigue top down to cover his stomach he noticed Ashley fixed her gaze to his once more.

 

“Joker has just gotten clearance for our departure from Alliance tower and wanted you to know so you could give him a heading... Though now I think about it he could have just contacted you on the comm link.”  Shepard could almost see the cogs spinning in Ashley’s head as she realised she had just been in effect pranked by the wily pilot, so he nodded his head whilst moving to the door, her falling in behind him with practiced ease.

 

“Joker likes to think himself a good practical joker, though I ask you don’t break him when you go and deal with him, I need him in one piece to get us to the Hades Gamma cluster. Our first main target is this Matriarch's daughter, but I want to see if we can finish some of these other missions whilst Udina and Anderson narrow down her last location. We need more money and resources if we are going to start going head to head with Saren and the Geth.” As they started climbing the steps to the command deck, Shepard decided that there was one last shot that he would get in whilst they were out of earshot of the crew. “By the way Williams, first I save your life and now this? I better be seeing this skirt of yours at dinner sooner rather than later or people will start talking...” She audibly gulped and he was chuckling even as they reached the top of the stairs, it was good to be captain...

 

Timeskip:

 

Of the many words that had been used to describe him over the years, one of the least used but probably the most accurate was 'scavenger'. Where he had developed the need to collect anything of value he came across was a topic that would later be of intense discussion between military psychologists. Was it something that had been built in the traumatic shift from being a somewhat well provided for child on Mindoir to suddenly becoming a desolated orphan lost in the system with nothing to his name? Or perhaps it developed from those desperate days on Elysium, where supplies dwindled away to the point where Shepard was forced to utilise the Batarians signature combat blades to defend his position from the last of the Batarian invaders?

 

Regardless of where it had sprouted from, Shepard was a pack rat to the extreme, which the crammed cargo deck of the Normandy alluded to after their quick flight to the Hades Gamma cluster. There was everything you could think of present, from weapons and armour of fallen enemies to food and medical supplies they had found whilst investigating planets of interest. They had even found a damaged but repairable light Mako type vehicle whilst investigating the disappearance of the missing survey team and a small unarmed transport vehicle being used by some scavengers, something that Shepard knew the Alliance would reward him handsomely for its return. Whilst the patriotic soldier in him objected to the idea of claiming a reward for what he had effectively looted from the dead Alliance team, his first conference call with Anderson assuaged those worries.

 

*Flashback*

 

Shepard had just finished explaining what he had found with the survey team and requested a drop off point for the equipment they had picked up to give it back to the Alliance fleet. Anderson seemed happier than Shepard had seen him since the trouble at Eden Prime.

 

"Good work Commander, I will see to it that the Alliance pencil pushers credit your account for the cost of the equipment." The older man raised his hand even as Shepard started to object, making the reasoning clear a moment later.

 

"The Alliance cannot fund your activities any more directly than we already have Shepard, as we discussed you are meant to be the Council's agent now not ours. But we can get around it the same way the other races have been doing for centuries, paying you as a mercenary team for doing missions for us and paying for the retrieval of Alliance equipment, personnel and weapons you come across whilst on those missions. Whilst it helps you in your pursuit of Saren, which is something the brass are very keen on assisting in any way they can, it also means that our equipment does not end up in the wrong hands. So you will be earning your rewards Shepard by saving the Alliance any number of political nightmares caused by criminal activities."

 

Captain Anderson looked off screen for a moment before focussing back on Shepard. "We are still trying to narrow down Dr Tsoni's last location more accurately than just somewhere in the Traverse, so you have a bit more time to get your team working smoothly before there is an urgent need to rush off anywhere.  How are your new members fitting in? I can get you a list of Alliance personnel if you feel you need some more firepower?"

 

Shepard shook his head, he had arranged for the group to work in strike teams of 3, with Ashley and Tali with him whilst Kaidan lead Garrus and Wrex. There were also the two marine ground squads that were the normal compliment on the Normandy, but they had barely had time to land on the first mission before everything was over.

 

"Honestly sir I think four strike teams is enough for now, the husk like things did not know what hit them and they were in quite large numbers. Though I will warn you now, some of your equipment will be modified or repaired by the time we get it back to you, Garrus, Tali and the others have been rather... enthusiastic in their maintenance and repair work." Whilst Kaidan had been relatively uninvolved and Shepard would be the first to admit he was no mechanic, the other four members of their little team had quickly found a shared love of equipment and maintaining it. Tali and Garrus had almost disassembled the light Mako before putting it back together, whilst Ashley and Wrex had taken care of the weapons they had collected. What Shepard would be handing over was definitely going to be in better condition than the standard issue equipment. Anderson chuckled at this and shrugged.

 

"Make a note of any changes they have made Commander, it will save us work on our end after all. I have been hearing good things from Engineer Adams already regarding Tali and her expertise, that was a good catch you found there Commander. Now, Ambassador Udina is authorising an Alliance salvage ship to come collect your spoils, I will have the Captain contact you when he reaches the Hades Gamma cluster. Is there anything else you need Commander?"

 

*Flashback end*

 

With that confirmation and official approval of his operating methods Shepard had moved onto the next piece of information he had collected whilst on the citadel that might be worth investigating. The kidnapping of a senior parliamentary official by a group of unstable L2 biotics was definitely something that his team could help with, though this time he hoped to use a bit more diplomacy and a little less violence...

 

Timeskip: 2 hours.

 

The MSV Ontario had obviously been in the middle of changing hiding places when the Normandy had arrived in system, the haulage ship making a hard burn for the nearby asteroid belt as Joker scanned the system. A single shot from the Normandy had damaged its engines to slow it to a crawl whilst Shepard, Wrex and Ashley took a shuttle to dock quietly with the ship whilst it was still slowing to a stop. The biotics hadn’t noticed their arrival until the three of them were already amongst them, shotguns and biotics blazing. Whilst most of the biotics had been violent without any allowance for reasoning or surrender, their leader had been whilst holding their target, Chairman Burns at gunpoint. Shepard managed to convince the remaining biotics that they had only one way to ensure that they and people like them could come out of this well and that was by keeping Burns alive in order to avoid them all being labelled pariahs or terrorists.

 

With the biotics pacified and Burns safe, Shepard had contacted the Fifth fleet, which was performing anti-pirate operations in the region and they had promised to send a frigate to provide transport for the Chairman and the prisoners back to Earth. They would also send an engineering team with the frigate to repair the engines on the Ontario and then transport it back into Alliance space, after all there was no such thing as too many ships for the Alliance to have, even if they just sold it onto a private company.

 

Whilst waiting for the frigate to arrive in system so as not to leave the beleaguered frigate on its own at risk of pirate attack, Joker had suggested that they use their scanners to do some recon work in the region on the Alliances behalf, as it was still one of the many planetary systems in the Traverse that had not been investigated by the overstretched Alliance exploratory fleets. Shepard had left the pilot to it as he and Pressley knew more about the readings they would receive than he would.

 

Such belief was quickly rewarded with reports quickly coming in of finding mineral and element deposits in the system including several high mineral content asteroids, proof that the powerful scanners that the Alliance had invested in for the Normandy were worth it. They had even located three shipwrecks, two in orbit whilst one was on the surface of one of the outer planets. Marking the locations on his galaxy map Shepard was now wishing he hadn’t immobilised the Ontario in order to board it, the haulage ship could easily have picked up a couple of the asteroids and transported them back to Alliance headquarters.

 

But that was something to consider for the future as the Fifth fleet cruiser appeared on the Normandy’s long range scans, now it was time to scan the final planetary system in the Hades Gamma cluster, the Dis system. Once he was sure there was no Geth activity he could link to Saren here, he could then move onto the next mission, which was Admiral Kahoku’s missing team in the Artemis Tau region, who knew what was going to be waiting for his team there...

 

Timeskip:

 

"Well Shepard, you don't do things in half measures do you. I have Alliance teams moving in to secure the crime bases you have cleared with your team, the exploration fleet are already salivating over the scans and resource information you have sent through. Have you had any contact with the Geth or Saren on your travels? And do you want me to send someone to collect the slaves you just freed?" Looking at the two dozen slaves of various races they had just freed from a slaver base on Sharjila in the Macedon system before Joker had informed him that Captain Anderson wanted to contact him, Shepard shook his head.

 

"No need Captain, I will return them to the Citadel after I have located Dr Tsoni. Speaking of which, do you have any news of her whereabouts or should I keep searching?" The holographic image of Anderson was distorted for a moment before Udina appeared next to him, ever present frown on his face.

 

"The Asari consulate were as usual difficult and mysterious, but with a Council mandate for the information relating to this Matriarch Benezia I managed to get enough information to be able to tell you that this Liara is in the Knossos sector in the Artemis Tau region, so you are already in the right area Shepard. They couldn't or wouldn't be more specific than that, so you are on your own from here Shepard. I have been arranging the credit transfer from Alliance command for the various pieces of work you have done thus far, impressive work Shepard, I will forward any other requests I get to your pilot for your perusal. Is there anything else we can do for you Commander?" Looking down at the unconscious body of the lead Asari slaver and remembering the data Garrus had just gotten from the data stores at the base, Shepard decided this was something that C-Sec deal with, probably earning him some more favour with Pallin at the same time.

 

"Well Ambassador, I need the information packet we have just obtained forwarded to Executor Pallin, I think he will find its contents very interesting relating to an Ms Dantius on the Presidium. Then there is something Chief Williams mentioned that I think is pertinent enough for me to ask the two of you. The stealth system the Normandy has equipped, how difficult would it be to create or retrofit another ship with the same system? Preferably a cargo hauler or salvage vessel?" Udina looked a little confused but Anderson nodded in understanding.

 

"Found even more equipment on your travels Commander? You are talking about a cutting edge piece of technology that was honestly not going to be reproduced for years if not decades Shepard. I will speak with my contacts in Alliance R&D, but I cannot make any promises..." Udina seemed to understand why Shepard was asking at this point and clicked his fingers before waving it at the screen in Shepard’s direction.

 

"That ship you rescued from the biotic dissidents, whilst it isn't a proper cargo hauler it certainly has much more space for equipment than the Normandy. The Alliance fifth fleet had no need for a ship of its class so I was going to try and secure a sale to someone on the Citadel, but I suppose I could hold it for you instead Shepard. But you would need to pay for it from your own funds, also to repair and crew it yourself to avoid any diplomatic difficulties some of the other Council races who might see us as using you for our own ends. Otherwise I can make some enquiries for you but the MSV Ontario will definitely be the cheapest option available." Shepard considered it for a moment, there were several people who he knew could get to form a skeleton crew for the Ontario if need be, but it was something for him to worry about when he was next at the Citadel.

 

"I will take the Ontario Ambassador, I will need more than the Normandy if I am going to go after Saren and it will be a means to that end. We can work out cost and paying for it later, but first I need to head to Knossos and find Dr Tsoni before she disappears like her mother. I will let you know when I have retrieved her, Shepard out." As Shepard terminated the connection a groan from behind him alerted him to the awakening of the Asari slaver, who sat up as he turned round to find herself looking down the barrel of Wrex's shotgun, the Krogan in question grinning evilly as he looked down at her.

 

"Go on scum, use some biotics and make my day." She couldn't use biotics of course, a cocktail of drugs Shepard had administered to her after Wrex had bodily knocked her out would ensure that, but if she tried Shepard wouldn't stop Wrex from finishing her. Luckily, for Dahlia Dantius anyways, she merely sighed shook her head before looking over at Shepard.

 

"You must be the new Spectre my sister threatened she would contact to deal with me after I 'obstructed' the transport of some of her... Well I suppose she would call them indentured workers. My only question is why am I still alive? I doubt my sister wants a problem like me still around." Stalking up to her Shepard waved Wrex off as it was clear Dahlia wasn't going to try and do anything stupid.

 

"You are alive because your sister had nothing to do with me being here, though if I wasn't in need of information that would be almost impossible to obtain through normal channels I would have no regrets with removing slaver scum like you from the galaxy." The accusation seemed to actually surprise Dahlia before she seemed to realise something and raise her hands defensively.

 

"Slavery? I suppose that is what it looks like but I swear my crew had nothing to do with that. These guys" she gestured over to the former captives at this point, many of whom were glaring in her direction. "They were just leverage against my sister for the blackmail money, we were going to let them go afterwards. If you don't believe me check the data on the machine, piracy, smuggling and the occasional kidnapping was what my crew did, anything worse than that was beyond what I signed up for and would have gotten my beloved sister to get rid of the smear on her reputation much sooner." Shepard was unsure at this point, whilst the Asari had seemed very open and honest with her defence against the slavery accusation, she also made it sound like she had decided not to do so only out of the wish to avoid her sisters wrath.

 

But, with the array of enemies against him with even more in the shadows that he didn't yet know about, Shepard couldn't afford to be picky with where he got his advantages from, not right now anyways. He would decide whether to hand her over to the Council forces later once the analysts on the Normandy had finished analysing the electronic information from the base for anything related to Saren or other useful stuff, along with the information she could provide him in the meantime...

 


	4. Therum and Hearts and Minds

Therum was definitely a place that Shepard wouldn’t mind never coming back to, but with the news that Liara was somewhere in the Knossos system, it was the only place that made sense for her to have been as the other planets in the system were non-habitable to say the least. This was supported by the weird readings the Normandy had picked up as he, Wrex and Garrus landed in the Mako. The other teams were on standby but fitting more than three in the armoured exploratory vehicle was not possible and with the possibility that this Liara was possibly working with the Geth meant Shepard did not want people on the ground unless it could be avoided.

 

They had landed near one of the mining sites that littered the surface of the planet in the hopes of getting some more information, but the place had been eerily quiet and the mine shafts deadlocked from the inside, putting Shepard even more on edge than he had been before. With no other options, they had continued through the crags and caverns towards where Joker had pinpointed the signal, only for a Geth ship to come out of nowhere and deploy a pair of heavy Geth walkers in their path. Luckily Shepard was a good driver and the Plasma the things fired was slow enough for him to dodge whilst Garrus blasted them with the Mako’s heavy armaments.

 

Shepard remembered shouting down his commlink to about where the damn thing had come from, the poor pilot only able to apologise and state that the planets magnetic fields were throwing off the sensors and if the Geth kept low to the ground there was not a lot he could do. The threat of the Geth was most definitely real now and Shepard knew that they had to hurry if they were going to get to Liara in time, whether to rescue or deal with he still didn’t know.

 

The Geth now knew that trouble had arrived and when they reached a small refinery that was between them and the signal source there were turrets and a large group of Geth waiting for them. That had been a more challenging fight than any he had experienced thus far since Eden prime and if it hadn’t been for Wrex’s suggestion of flanking the refinery walls, using a smaller, less well defended gorge to the side they would probably have taken some real damage to the Mako. Searching the refinery after dealing with the Geth had revealed the expected but still sorrowful news of what had happened to the refinery staff, butchered to a man in the command room they had all obviously fled to.

 

With the refinery secured, Shepard called in the back up teams, who would secure the site, collect the dead of both sides for alliance R+D analysis and cover his back from any more Geth reinforcement drops. Hopefully Tali would be able to get some information from the dead Geth about whether they were here to protect or kidnap Dr T'soni. The Geth obviously had used the time he had spent taking the refinery to reinforce their defences as Geth walkers continued to litter towards a large encampment they had picked up on the scanners. The things were ill suited to a more direct approach that Shepard had come up with, namely charging them down with the Mako and knocking the over before unleashing the cannons.

 

The tactic even worked on the colossal walker that was waiting for them with a group of rocket troopers at the access tunnel to the site, it's larger size making Iran even easier target, though Shepard did not want to know what the things main armament could do to the Mako if they actually hit it. The colossus seemed to be the Geths final line of defence against the Mako, the only thing Shepard encountered from then on were Rocket troopers before they had reached a rock fall at the base of the camp which made it impossible to continue further except on foot. Not that Shepard minded the change of pace, Wrex had been getting impatient to tear things apart anyways...

 

Time skip:

 

Jumping Geth snipers, another armature and enough troops to keep even Wrex happy, that is what had awaited them at the excavation site entrance. For the first time Shepard really appreciated the Mako's armaments, the walkers were a lot harder to kill with just basic infantry weapons and biotics. Wrex had gone down to a direct hit to the chest by the Armature, but by the time Shepard had finished the thing off with warp spikes the Krogan regeneration had kicked in and Wrex had just needed a shot of medi gel before he was up on his feet and griping about missing the rest of an awesome fight. With no sign of what had happened to the excavation team on the surface, they had to descend below, Shepard only thankful that the cramped tunnels meant it would make it very unlikely they would face another walker down here.

 

They didn't, just more Geth infantry as they descended further into the ground than Shepard ever really wanted to, as they followed the excavations of a massive Prothean tower all the way to its base. It was there they found Liara T'soni, though judging by her state of being suspended inside some kind of mass effect field behind a barrier, she was not at her most comfortable or presentable. As Shepard approached her eyes lit up and she started shouting once more.

 

"Can you hear me out there? I am trapped and need help." Shepard knew from the pictures he had been sent that this was Liara, and unless this was a very, _very_ elaborate trap it was unlikely she was with the Geth that had been stationed here.

 

"Dr T'soni I presume? Are you okay in there, no injuries? Are there any Geth in there with you?" Liara shook her head and though worried also seemed slightly excited by the prospect of the Geth.

 

"This thing, it is a security device of some kind, I presume it is Prothean. I cannot move at all, so I will need you to get me out all right? I don't think there are any Geth here, I was exploring the ruins when warnings of Geth above came. It's how I ended up in here, I was trying to hide in here, and activated the towers defences as I knew the barriers would keep them out. Obviously I tampered a little too much and well here I am. A couple of Geth have tried to get in but they have made no headway with the barrier. Can you believe it, Geth! Beyond the veil." Definitely an excitable one, even in her current condition, though Shepard knew he still had one more question to ask.

 

"I am Commander Shepard, Council Spectre and I am hunting an ex-Spectre called Saren who is commanding the Geth to bring about the return of the reapers. Your mother Benezia is known to be working with them and that is probably why they are here. So the question is, are you with them or not?" The introduction and revelation about her mother seemed to throw Liara for a loop and it took her several seconds before she seemed to process his question.

 

"I am not on anybody's side, I have no idea what you are talking about. I haven't spoken to Benezia in years, decades in fact. We are nothing alike! I promise I know nothing of what she is up to, please just get me out of here." She seemed genuine enough and Shepard could always question her in more detail later.

 

"Okay, so we just need to get through this barrier to get to you. Any ideas of how to do that Liara?" She shook her head minutely, which seemed to be as much movement as she could manage.

 

"It's a barrier curtain, I knew it would keep the Geth out and keep me safe. There is no way to deactivate it from the outside I am afraid, so getting in will be a little tricky. But be careful commander, there was a Krogan with the Geth that were trying to get in before, he seemed to be in command of them." The news of a Krogan was troubling, but given Wrex's eager look Shepard doubted he would have to actually deal with it himself. Looking out over the excavating equipment Shepard saw a mining laser set up facing the tower, aimed a few floors below Liara's position. There were a few Geth guarding it, but Shepard had the high ground and better cover, meaning they weren't much difficulty to deal with.

 

They blasted through the tower base with the laser and worked their way up to Liara's position on a Prothean elevator, which thankfully Garrus could work with his limited knowledge of Prothean symbols. Coming to a stop on Liara's level, Shepard stepped towards her as she turned her head in obvious surprise.

 

"Wha, how did you get in here? I didn't think anyone would be able to get past the barrier." She was obviously scared at this point given his earlier mention of Benezia, so Shepard decided to not make things worse.

 

"That's not important, what we need is to get you out of here before anymore Geth arrive." Liara perked up at this and tilted her head to her left.

 

"Yes, I think I have seen enough of the Geth for the moment, the button over there should shut down my containment field." Shepard nodded and headed over, a few taps on the keyboard releasing Liara to the floor with a quiet thud. She stood a little unsteadily and brushed herself off before turning in his direction and smiling slightly. "Thank you Commander, I was worried I would never make it out of there or if I did it would be at the hands of the Geth. Now I think the central ring you came up on is an elevator for the entire tower, so it should be able to get us out of here. Come on!" They hurried onto the elevator and Liara approached the console before typing away at the screen with a speed and confidence Shepard could not have imagined. She started talking as she turned around as the elevator started moving, her face set with worry.

 

"I still do not understand why the Geth would be looking for me, you told me that Benezia was working with the one that controls them, but why come after me? She knows as well as I do that we are not remotely close anymore." The fact that Liara was using her mother’s first name in such a cold tone reinforced the story she was telling about the distance between them, but if they were not close, then why was Saren targeting her? It was Garrus who suggested that it was due to her knowledge of the Protheans, which he could then use to find the conduit, an idea that did make the most sense out of what they knew thus far. Any further talk was curtailed by the shuddering of the ruins around them, obviously the mining laser had not been the best plan after all. Reaching for his communicator, Shepard barked out his orders.

 

"Away team, get back on the shuttles and get back to the Normandy. Joker, lock onto my signal and get here on the double, that's an order." Joker replied instantly, obviously understanding the urgency if not the premise of the crisis.

 

"On my way Commander, luckily the atmosphere here is light enough for the Normandy to descend into it directly. Eta 8 minutes." Jokers signing off was accompanied by another shuddering of the earth and Wrex growled to himself.

 

"If I die down here now, I am going to kill him." A sentiment Shepard shared, but would not voice it as it would no doubt make Liara even more nervous. The elevator made good time to what seemed to be the top floor, but the quaking seemed to have knocked out the barriers as strolling through to meet them was a Krogan flanked by half a dozen Geth. As the Krogan came to a stop in front of them it called out.

 

"Surrender, or don't. That would be more fun." Shepard lamented the bloodlust of Krogans at this point, but he had to try reasoning with him to get them out of here in one piece.

 

"Just in case you hadn't noticed, this whole place is coming down around us. If we fight here none of us will survive!" The Krogan merely chuckled.

 

"Adds to the excitement, doesn't it? Thanks for getting rid of those pesky energy barriers for us. Now hand the doctor over." Liara shook her head as she started to glow the tell-tale biotic blue.

 

"Whatever it is you want, you are not getting it from me." Shepard grinned, any doubts he had about the young Asari were gone at this point.

 

"I think the lady would prefer to stay with us at this point, thanks for asking though." The Krogan shrugged.

 

"Doesn't matter, Saren wants her, and what Saren wants, he always gets. Kill them all, spare the..." The Krogan didn't get any further as he was hit by a sabotage from Garrus and a warp spike from Shepard, just before Wrex slammed into him with the force of a small car. Liara was not silent though, throwing two of the Geth troops into a wall even as they began to react. All in all, it was a fairly easy fight, Shepard throwing the recovering Krogan into a wall and allowing Wrex to get him with his shotgun whilst Garrus sniped one of the Shock troops. Geth plasma spat and flickered on his shields, but Shepard had spent quite some time with Tali tinkering his shields so they were more resistant to Geth fire and he was able to move into cover without taking any direct hits to his armour.

 

Thirty seconds later the enemies were down, but there was no time to check the bodies, the shaking was getting worse and he could see outside the ruins the excavations were collapsing. They ran and Shepard wasn't entirely sure how they got out without being hit by falling debris and killed, but they made it to the entrance and outside even as the last of the tunnels collapsed behind them. Breathing heavily, Shepard’s relief was cut short by Garrus' call from behind him.

 

"Commander, I don't think we can stop running just yet..." Turning to look at Garrus Shepard saw what he meant, the top of the mountain they had just been inside was spewing lava down towards them at an astonishing rate. Joker better not have been kidding when he said eight minutes...

 

Time skip:

 

Alliance dock:

 

Being in the heart of what was in effect an erupting volcano had been probably the most interesting mission report he had ever had to write and then to top it off he had to report to the council. Whilst they had been pleased that he had rescued Liara from the attempted kidnapping by Saren and her mother, the Turian had been very clear with his disdain of the destruction of the Prothean ruins, like Shepard would have had any way of knowing the mining laser would have set the volcano off. Shepard weathered the scathing remarks with practised ease, Alliance command had its own set of politicians and bureaucrats that thought that they knew the best way to complete missions without any ground experience.

 

The payment the Council had given him for the mission had been more than enough to cover the wages of his non alliance crew as well as a significant down payment on the 1 million credits he had agreed with Ambassador Udina for the purchasing of the Ontario from the Alliance fifth fleet. It was less than a fifth of the normal selling price for a ship in that class, but considering that Shepard had cleared it and obtained it for them he assumed that had been factored into the price. Udina had met him at the dock as he disembarked, with a half dozen marines and a young woman that Shepard didn't recognise, with short cut blonde hair and an athletic thin figure that was highlighted by the military dress uniform she had regulation perfect.

 

Shepard waved the rest of the crew onwards, after a week of almost constant flight, missions and surveillance all of them could do with a few hours shore leave to relax and recuperate before they went out once more. Tali, Wrex and Liara stayed with him whilst Garrus lead Ashley and Kaidan towards C-Sec with Dahlia in tow, they were to see what Pallin had made of the Dantius information they had found as well as to formalise the deal that Shepard had made with the woman. Dahlia, who upon realising who he was and his history with slavers, very quickly came clean about the three times she had taken part in slavery operations as part of that pirate group. After that she had agreed to every demand of information, contacts and assistance he had asked of her to avoid being handed over to C-Sec, even volunteering some information she thought he might find useful about other pirate groups in the traverse.

 

Dahlia had desperately claimed that her sister had enough contacts on the Presidium and in C-sec that she would not see the end of the day if she was lucky, she would see the end of the next century in some dark hole if she wasn't. As such, with a pang of conscience as well as computerised results from two separate lie detectors showing the woman was being sincere in every respect, Shepard had conscripted her to his personal detail, it would be there that if she was lucky she would earn a Spectres reprieve, something that a Spectre could use to effectively wipe the records of his closest allies if they had distinguished themselves in his service. Shaking off the mental thought pattern as Udina coughed and stepped forward in his usual imperious manner, Shepard focussed on what was being said.

 

"Shepard, whilst you were retrieving Dr T'soni I forwarded your scanning data to the exploratory fleet and Vice admiral Stukov asked me to escort Ensign Waters here to explain a proposition he has. Now if you two don't mind I have more important things I need to attend too." And without another word of explanation Udina turned on his heel and headed back towards the lift array with his bodyguards following behind him. Looking at the blonde who was still stood nervously at attention Shepard realised quite how young she was, he wouldn't be surprised if this was her first time out of the academy.

 

"If we keep picking up strays like this Shepard, I won't have anywhere left to put my trophies." The loud and blunt comment from Wrex brought a small smile to Shepard’s face as he watched the girls eyes dart over to scarred and hulking Krogan, obviously unsure of whether to speak or not. To his surprise Tali spoke up in a rebuking tone before he had a chance to.

 

"Wrex, I wouldn't make the Commander choose between another person and your macabre pieces of gristle, you won't like the choice he makes. Besides, you didn't think I was much to look at at first." Tali left the end of the sentence hanging, the originally shy and socially awkward girl already surprisingly comfortable with baiting the grizzled bounty hunter. Liara also looked similarly out of place, but considering she was still recovering from her accidental imprisonment as well as the news of her mother’s plotting it was to be expected. Raising his hand to stall the argument before it could truly develop, Shepard gestured to Waters impatiently.

 

"Ensign, if you wouldn't mind letting me know why you are here, I have a lot of things to do in the next few hours and trying to cater to the ambassador's mind games is not one of them." He mentally winced at the tone of his voice as he said that, the lack of sleep he had had over the last two days was affecting him more than he thought. Luckily the girl simply pulled off a textbook salute before speaking in a hurried tone.

 

"Yes sir, apologies sir. I am Ensign Kate Waters of the exploratory first fleet. Vice Admiral Stukov wished me to relay his thanks for your surveillance work over the last few days, the data you have collected has made up for the loss of two of our ships to Geth and pirate activity in the Traverse." The girl paused and it was only when Shepard coughed and waved his hand that she seemed to realise that he was still waiting for more information.

 

"Sorry sir, I thought that the Ambassador had already forwarded the Vice Admiral's request and this was just a formality. Admiral Stukov had noted that the Normandy had no assigned technical specialist for the scanners and communications systems it houses, due to it being classed as a military rather than exploratory craft. As such, he would like to attach me to your crew to fill this role as well as to serve as your personal aide... Only if you wish for me to join you sir of course, the Vice Admiral would not wish to try and impose on the hero of Elysium and humanities first Spectre."

 

It was true what the girl had said of course, neither Pressley or Joker specialised in the auger equipment beyond what they needed to complete their own duties, but Shepard wondered how much of this offer was actually the Alliance trying to help him with his mission and how much was it trying to minimise the number of aliens that he ended up recruiting to join him on their top secret cutting edge frigate. With no idea how long he might have before he was needed again, Shepard decided that he could make this decision whilst on the way to his next task.

 

"Walk with me Ensign, we will discuss this on the way to the Wards, I have business to take care of there. Are you armed?" Waters nodded quickly before indicating the pistol at her side.

 

"Are we expecting trouble sir? Should I change into my combat gear before we leave?" She gestured off to the side where Shepard saw a suit of armour and a small rucksack were leant against the side railings, obviously all of the equipment she had given she had assumed that he had already agreed her assignment.

 

"Better to expect it than be surprised by it Ensign, you shouldn't need your equipment though, get it aboard the Normandy for now. If any firing does start then just get behind me and the big guy." He thumbed an indication over to Wrex who merely grunted before going back to grumbling under his breath. Waters nodded and saluted again before moving over and grabbing her stuff before heading to the airlock with the Normandy, one of the crew who had elected to stay on guard of the ship as a skeleton crew moved with her to authorise her access. Turning to his team Shepard spoke his plan to them.

 

"Now we need to find someone to fix up the Ontario, from what I know most of the engineering companies that do operate on the citadel are in the lower wards, so we will head down there and keep our eyes peeled. Wrex, you are to keep an eye on the Ensign and make sure whatever happens she gets back here unharmed. The last thing we want is to have to explain to Alliance command how we got our newly assigned tech specialist killed before formally accepting the transfer..."

 

Timeskip:

 

They made good time down to the lower wards, though the initial three shipbuilding companies that they had found had been far too expensive according to Tali and Wrex. Shepard trusted their judgement as the two had much more ship experience than he did, though at this point he might need to bite the bullet and spend the extra credits if he was to achieve anything else this evening. Waters had been surprisingly informative about the different companies and what sort of modifications they might make to the Ontario, she had been first in her class at the academy both in interstellar communications and ship technology, and so had relatively up to date knowledge on the development fields in civilian grade shipping equipment.

 

The fact that she had joined the exploratory fleet was a bit of a surprise, many people in her field had callings in the military fleets or on private contracts. When he had asked why she had chosen to do so she had merely reddened slightly and looked away before stating she had been following the example of someone she looked up to. Deciding it wasn't worth digging into for the moment Shepard had contented himself to listening to Tali and Wrex argue about ships, with Liara joining in with slowly increasing confidence as the pair responded to her remarks intelligently and with no hint of derision.

 

The nice atmosphere was shattered by the sounds of shouting emerging from a doorway up ahead, followed by the sight of a Quarian being thrown bodily out of the door into the walkway, a grizzly looking Turian armed with a heavy pistol stalking out with two more Quarians quickly moving out of his way to try and stand protectively in front of the downed Quarian who was cradling his left arm which was obviously broken.

 

"You thought I wouldn't notice two non-paying tenants living in my building space rat? Thought you could get away with only paying one person’s rent?" The Turian was almost frothing at the mouth at this point, waving the pistol dangerously in the Quarians direction. Before Shepard could do anything, Tali was marching forwards her posture displaying her anger.

 

"What do you think you are doing pig? Try picking on someone who will fight back." The Turian turned sharply and growled when he saw Tali, pointing the pistol at her and cocking the weapon.

 

"Thieving scum like you shouldn't argue with your betters, I should..." Suddenly the Turian found himself looking up at Wrex's face whilst the Krogan grasped his arm in an unbreakable hold, the stone cold fury on Wrex's face a clear contrast to the sarcastic biting humour he usually employed. Shepard noted as well with a bit of pride that Waters had her pistol drawn and ready whilst Liara had summoned a barrier between Tali and the pistol.

 

"You should go back inside before I decide to relieve you of your arm as well as your weapon, split faced cocksucker. I might do so anyway, you did just threaten a Spectre crew member in front of said Spectre." The Turian shrank in on himself a bit before nodding slowly, Wrex taking his pistol roughly before bodily pushing him back towards the door. The Turian turned at the last moment however and pointed at the Quarians, some of his former bravado returning as he made a rude gesture.

 

"Don't even think about coming back space rats, and I will make sure the other landlords will not let you in. Not even your fish faced brute will help you there." The Turian was inside before anyone could respond, which given the angry blue aura surrounding Wrex was probably the best outcome for all of them. With the situation mostly diffused Shepard made his way over to the injured Quarian, noting the nervous looks the other two Quarians cast in his direction as he knelt down, holding his omni-tool up to scan the Quarian. The results surprised him slightly, the Quarian was definitely suffering from malnourishment and a slight infection as well as the broken arm, though the infection seemed to be in its final stages, which for a Quarians inhibited immune system meant that it had been affecting him for a while.

 

"Luckily it is a clean break, no bone fragments or tissue damage that we need to concern ourselves with." Applying a splint made from some nearby scrap and a bandage from his first aid kit, Shepard then applied a dose of medi-gel to the Quarian's arm port whilst Tali finished talking to the other two Quarians in the Quarian native language. Judging by the slowly increasing volume and tone of Tali's voice, she did not like what she was hearing. Waters stepped up beside him at this point and started speaking quietly so as not to interrupt the conversation.

 

"The Quarians are saying that they are trying to complete their pilgrimage sir, but they were robbed by a group of humans within hours of landing on the Citadel and therefore had no way to pay for food or accommodation. The injured Quarian, who they refer to as Kilya no ship, is one of the Quarians that left the migrant fleet almost two decades ago, he runs a small scrap goods and second hand equipment store in the lower wards. He offered them a place to stay whilst they tried to find work, but the general attitude on the Citadel towards Quarians is... I don't quite know the word but I know some of the parts of it are rather distasteful to say the least." Shepard was impressed at Waters translation, most humans would at best learn one of the main council race languages and rely on their translators to suffice for the rest. The injured Quarian was equally surprised, speaking up as Shepard helped him a little awkwardly to his feet.

 

"You know the language of the Quarians, Kelish human? Most of your kind do not even acknowledge our presence here, let alone take the time and trouble of learning our language." Kilya had been rather loud with his comment causing the other Quarians to turn and stop speaking whilst Waters nodded with a small dusting of red colouring her cheeks.

 

"I have complete knowledge of all three Council languages and several of their more minor dialects, working knowledge of Kelish and Krogan along with a smattering of Volus, Prothean and Hanar languages. I apologise if any of my translation was incorrect, I have not had much chance to use my understanding of Kelish outside of the academy class." Shepard's respect for the young Ensign went up another couple of notches and he could now see how she would be useful on the team. Something that Tali had mentioned the first time he had talked to her on the ship suddenly sprung to Shepard's mind, which could save him a load of time and effort in the long run. He gestured at the two non-injured Quarians whilst Liara spoke quietly with Waters, something about the Protheans from the sound of it.

 

"Are the pair of you capable of crewing a ship? Are there anymore Quarians you know that have experienced similar difficulties?" Tali scoffed at this and gestured around, but her tone was surprisingly light and warm as she replied.

 

"The lower wards are filled with Quarians Shepard, it is the only place most of us can afford to stay in whether we have left the fleet or not. Also, we are not really welcome on the higher levels, most of the other races see us the same way the Turian did there." One of the two young Quarians nodded and spoke up after Tali had finished speaking, Shepard thought it was a she, but for the most part Quarians were thin and lithe enough it was hard to make out distinguishing features easily.

 

"I am Seratha nar Hrroth, and this is Kiaran nar Hrroth. Thank you for your help with the Turian Krogan, many would have just walked on by. In regards to your question human, both of us are capable of being ship’s crew, I have experience with navigation and engine systems whilst Kiaran was part of the ship repair crews back in the Fleet before we went on our Pilgrimage. Why do you ask? I will admit that having inconvenienced Kilya as we have we would not wish to cause further trouble for him or any other of our brethren on this station, so if you know of a job that is not overly dangerous or illegal, we would happily take anything you have to offer." The fact that Seratha had indicated that Kiaran had experience with repair was an unexpected bonus as if they could find a few more with similar skills. Turning to Tali he could already see the wheels turning in her head even before he spoke.

 

"Tali, take Kilya to Dr Michel on the upper wards and get her to give him a more thorough treatment, make sure she knows you are with me. Seratha, is that right? I am Commander Shepard of the Council Spectres and I am in need of a skilled crew. I want you and Kiaran to gather any other Quarians you know who need work who have cleanish records, I want enough to form a crew for a small cargo hauler and if possible a ship repair team as the ship I am thinking of has suffered some battle damage. Do you think that will be possible?" All three Quarians obviously hadn't realised that Wrex had been speaking the truth when he had spoken about Spectres before, all three Quarian's body language shifted to a little apprehensive and awed. Seratha looked over at Kiaran and the two seemed to have a silent conversation as their bodies shifted subtly. After a few moments Seratha turned back to him.

 

"Apologies Spectre we had no idea it was you, we had heard rumours of a human Spectre being appointed but actual information is a little hard to obtain down here. I would just like to state that we have little combat experience beyond our basic training for our pilgrimage, so if you are hoping for a combat force to aid you..." She trailed off and Shepard realised that he had perhaps given the wrong impression with his introduction, raising his hands and shaking them negatively.

 

"No, no I was not expecting any of you to serve on the front lines. I already have a frigate called the Normandy and several combat teams including this one here, so there would be no expectation for you to be involved in that in the slightest. I merely wish to have a second ship that can serve as a transport for any equipment, resources or people that I find during my investigations that we can then sell or return to its owners." There was an obvious slump of relief in Seratha's posture before she straightened once more and pulled a rough Alliance salute, something that Kiaran copied a moment later.

 

"In which case Captain Shepard vas Normandy, we would be honoured to join your crew and serve under you. Keelah se'lia, this is the best news we have had in months. How many more crew do you think we will need, six or seven? Then we have the repair crews and of course people to load and store the equipment and materials..." The young Quarian seemed to have quite the analytical mind and a good grasp of logistics, so Shepard left Tali with them to ensure they didn't go overboard with the planning and also to ensure that the Quarians would know where to go once they were done. With his biggest problem solved, Shepard turned back towards the elevators to the upper wards, time to see if there was anybody else who had relevant work or information for him to use.

  
"Cute Shepard, now we are going to have Tali in an endorphin rush for weeks. Do you want me to see if I can get a Krogan merc team together whilst we are here? Might as well go all out if you want to make this a properly multi-racial mission." Shepard chuckled at Wrex's dry comment, whilst it was obviously in jest, the mental image of the look on Saren’s face when a dozen Krogan like Wrex tore through the Geth to get to him was definitely worth it...

**A/N: So Shepard expands his team to more than just one ship. In many ways the thing that I think would have been a great addition to the Mass Effect series would have been an Assassin’s creed type fleet, which you could send on missions to earn money, resources and special equipment.  Same with the fable like thing of buying property and shops, but I imagine if they had actually had that in game there would have been far too many people playing property mogul to actually complete the game.**

**The Quarians are honestly the race I trusted the most throughout ME 1 and 2 and I apologise for those that aren’t their biggest fan but I like to think my reasoning for it is fairly solid? It also lays the groundwork for some later story plot that I hope people will like. Next is Feros and that is going to be a ‘fun’ chapter to write. What do people think? Yay? Nay? Review and let me know.**


	5. Settling the Scores

_Previously on The Medic Effect:_

_"In which case Captain Shepard vas Normandy, we would be honoured to join your crew and serve under you. Keelah se'lia, this is the best news we have had in months. How many more crew do you think we will need, six or seven? Then we have the repair crews and of course people to load and store the equipment and materials..." The young Quarian seemed to have quite the analytical mind and a good grasp of logistics, so Shepard left Tali with them to ensure they didn't go overboard with the planning and also to ensure that the Quarians would know where to go once they were done. With his biggest problem solved, Shepard turned back towards the elevators to the upper wards, time to see if there was anybody else who had relevant work or information for him to use._

_"Cute Shepard, now we are going to have Tali in an endorphin rush for weeks. Do you want me to see if I can get a Krogan merc team together whilst we are here? Might as well go all out if you want to make this a properly multi-racial mission." Shepard chuckled at Wrex's dry comment, whilst it was obviously in jest, the mental image of the look on Saren’s face when a dozen Krogan like Wrex tore through the Geth to get to him was definitely worth it..._

 

Chapter 5: Settling the Scores

 

Twenty three Quarians, two Elcor and a Salarian were what awaited Shepard when he reached the docking bay for the Ontario and the Normandy after a trip round the presidium for some upgrades to his armour and equipment, along with speaking to several people of interest on route who had missions and information that might be useful to him. Tali had already got those who made up the repair team working on the Ontario's engines and it looked like it would be serviceable again within the hour, whilst one of the other Quarians, who he thought was Seratha but couldn't quite tell at this distance was giving instructions to the rest of the crew. He would have walked over to investigate but Joker had called him less than ten minutes before to let him know Anderson wanted to speak to him via the Normandy comms system, meaning that something important had come up that required his immediate attention. As he walked towards the Normandy he saw a blur of movement from the corner of his eye and turned just in time to catch Tali as she threw herself at him.

 

"Shepard, this is wonderful, to be amongst my own people once more and have us all working constructively. It's like being back on the fleet, only a lot cleaner and less cramped..." Tali then seemed to realise what she was doing as she jumped back from the hug and looked incredibly awkward as many of the other Quarians looked on with a mixture of interest and shock. "Keelah, I am sorry Shepard, I just was so excited. You must be thinking terribly of me right now." To see Tali fall back to her original shy self was cute in an odd way and Shepard honestly didn't mind the hug overly much, Waters had spent some of the time they had been travelling through the Citadel to expand on the limited knowledge he had on the Quarians, highlighting their high emotional capacity, lack of understanding of personal space and key beliefs in honour and working together. Shaking his head slightly, Shepard merely wrapped an arm around Tali's shoulders and pulled lightly, the girl giving a slight eep as she walked with him into the Normandy airlock.

 

"It is fine Tali, just try not to do it in public from now on, people may get the wrong idea." It took a moment before Tali's face mask became even more clouded, a sign Shepard was slowly learning meant that she was embarrassed. Deciding not to embarrass the girl any more than he already had Shepard carried on and changed the subject slightly. "So we have our second crew, how much is that going to cost me?" Tali seemed to collect herself and spoke a little more confidently this time, though she was still wringing her hands a little embarrassedly.

 

"The Quarians are all on their pilgrimage, so they only want a small tithe in addition to bedding and food, though I said that I would speak with you on their behalf about being able to take a few of any useful items they help salvage to take back with them to the fleet." Shepard couldn't see the downside of this really, a few less pieces of salvaged equipment for what was in effect a free crew.

 

"Sounds reasonable, but they will need to speak with me before they set anything aside so there are no mix ups. What about the Salarian and the two Elcor?"

 

"The Elcor are essentially here for the heavy lifting that my people would struggle with, both are young males out too make a bit of extra money for their herd. Supposedly the Elcor ambassador has been spreading the word out about you Shepard, that you are to be trusted, as they were very eager to join once I mentioned your name. The Salarian is a bit more of an unknown and actually hasn't signed up for the crew, instead he wanted to speak to you about a business opportunity he had in mind. I didn't see the harm in letting him up here and I have Kiaran keeping an eye on him." Another opportunity to make some money then, though to come to him directly rather than through the ambassador implied a need for confidentiality or a personal matter. Heading into the communications room, Shepard found that Anderson was already waiting for him on the holographic projection, his former superior nodding his head in greeting.

 

"Shepard, I hope you are ready for more work, we have just received news of a Geth attack on the colony of Zhu's hope on the planet Feros, it's not an Alliance sanctioned colony so our hands are tied. But you can go there with impunity, so if we want to know more about what Saren is up to we will find out there. Good luck Commander, I will keep trying to get you more useful information about any other developments in the meantime. Good luck out there, Anderson out." Saluting as the Captain did the same before he flickered and disappeared, Shepard immediately activated his ear piece.

 

"Joker, alert the crew to return to the Normandy now, priority one! We leave in an hour with or without them. Get us permission to depart from Citadel control now, for both the Normandy and the Ontario, we leave the moment we are fully accounted for." There was a moment’s pause before Jokers tired voice came over the line, obviously the man had been grabbing some sleep when Shepard alerted him.

 

"Right away commander, where are we headed?" Shepard didn't actually know which system the Feros system was based, so had to be a little more vague than he would have liked.

 

"Planet called Feros, don't know the system so you will have to sort it out on your end. Shepard out." Turning back to Tali Shepard indicated that they should head out once more. "Now all we need is to sort out this Salarian and pick a captain for the Ontario before the others get back, any objections to making Seratha in charge?" Tali shook her head even as she fell in step beside him, holding out a data pad for him to look at which had details of his new crew on it.

 

"She is one of the youngest of the Quarians I selected, but also one of the most outspoken given her longer than normal Quarian Citadel criminal record." Shepard cast a confused look at this and Tali chuckled rather morbidly before elaborating. "Quarians are the scapegoats in everything Shepard, when it comes to C-Sec investigation where it is someone's word against ours they will always side against the Quarian. You should see my record at some point... Sorry I am rambling again, I agree Shepard. As she is the one who spoke with you, she is seen to have been responsible for getting the other Quarians this opportunity, therefore there is already a healthy respect amongst the others which will be boosted with such a responsibility."

 

As they stepped out of the airlock back into the docking area, Shepard could already see some of the Normandy crew appearing in small groups and flitting through the waiting Quarians towards him. Seeing the Salarian waiting somewhat anxiously off to one side with three Quarians stood imperiously watching him, Shepard decided to deal with him first before doing anything else. Striding up Shepard noticed all the Quarians jump to attention as he passed, the three watching moving aside to let him past as the middle one saluted, a female from what Shepard’s rapidly improving knowledge of Quarians let him deduce.

 

"Captain, I am Avila nar Rayya, Kiaran had to move to help with the repairs so we offered to watch the Salarian until you were prepared to see him." The level that the Quarians were going to in order to try and please him was almost worrying if Shepard didn't know about the general attitude they were used to, but instead he merely saluted back before waving over a group of the alliance marines that had just returned to the ship.

 

"Sergeant James, get some of the spare Hurricane Mk1-3's that we have picked up and bring them over here, a dozen or so should suffice for now." The marines saluted and moved off without any other order required, Shepard turning back to the Quarian who had spoken. "Whilst I do not expect any of you to get involved with the fighting, you are now my crew and therefore my responsibility. Distribute the weapons amongst you for now and we will see about outfitting you all better going forward, now if you would give the Salarian and I some privacy to discuss things I would be grateful." There was a moment before Aliva nodded her head and saluted once more before moving out into the other Quarians with the other two following behind, Tali shaking her head and muttering something under her breath as Shepard extended his hand to the Salarian.

 

"I am Commander Shepard and Tali tells me you wished to speak with me about a business matter?" The Salarian nodded whilst grasping and shaking his hand eagerly.

 

"Indeed, thank you for speaking with me Spectre, your reputation on the Citadel most impressive. I am Jorgun Eranus and I actually wished to thank you first for helping business partner, Kilya very good at job but not good at telling me about problems. I want to also know if you would be interested in business deal? News of you selling large numbers of civilian and military grade items has spread through Citadel and my assumption is that you will have more to sell in the future. I have enough capital to expand Kilya's shop and move it up onto the ward markets, but lack distinguishing feature to make it unique. Uniqueness means success yes? Then I have idea, joint business venture with you, using weapons and equipment you find to compliment other items we buy in, as well as your name and affiliation to provide credibility and enhance reputation. Thinking something catchy like Shepard’s Stockade, to use one of your human words." It was definitely something that Shepard would never had thought of on his own, and with his reputation as an alliance war hero and now as a Spectre it certainly had legitimacy, but there was something he needed to check first.

 

"Is that legal? Wouldn't the council object to the use of my Spectre status to make a profit?" The Salarian shook his head rapidly, obviously pleased that Shepard was not dismissing his idea out of hand.

 

"No, no, Spectres do it everywhere already, perfectly legal. Just need to pay some of profits as a 'donation' to Council funds, will have all the details ready for you in the next couple of days to look over before you decide. No rush just wished to speak with you in person rather than try and go through official channels, tedious and wastes time. You are obviously very busy Commander, I will go and check on Kilya and get things ready."  The Salarian shook hands with him once more before walking away with an obvious spring in his step. Deciding to withhold any further judgement on the subject until he had read through the promised documents, Shepard had one last thing to do before he was ready to leave. Leaning across to Tali, he spoke quietly to her.

 

"So is there some kind of special method of announcing a captaincy amongst Quarians or is it a free for all?" Tali thought for a moment before shaking her head.

 

"Each ship has its own traditions that date back generations, so whatever you decide Shepard will be fine as long as you do in front of the entire crew. Also, if you are to name her the Captain she will become Seratha vas Ontario nar Hrroth, just in case you wished to get things right." Winging it was the answer then. Having been through enough Alliance award and promotion ceremonies, Shepard could happily say he would prefer to avoid the heavy formality associated with such things, so he simply hoisted himself up onto a nearby crate that came up to his upper thigh. His move garnered the attention he had hoped for as the Quarians very quickly all turned in his direction, though it took one of them patting them on the shoulder to get the hulking Elcor brothers to slowly spin to face him. With everyone's eyes now on him Shepard raised his arms in greeting.

 

"Welcome all of you, as all of you will now know I am Commander Shepard and I am captain of the Normandy that you see here. Tali nar Rayya has spoken to me and has given me her word that all of you are skilled crewmen, and I trust her to make that decision for me." He paused for a breath as a quiet muttering spread through the assembled Quarians, Tali suddenly wringing her hands nervously once more. "I have received a request for help from the planet of Feros with reports of an attack from the Geth. I do not know what Tali has told you about my mission but I do not want to keep you in the dark if at all avoidable. I have been tasked by the Council to hunt down and apprehend the ex-Spectre Saren, whose crimes include attacking a human colony with Geth fleet, sabotaging a Prothean artefact and attempted murder against several of my team including Tali and myself. I do not expect or even wish for you to fight, that is not what you signed up for, but if any of you wish to leave now I will not think any less of you." He paused as the muttering that had increased with his mention of the Geth stopped suddenly at his offer to leave. After a moment Seratha stepped forward and pumped her right fist to her chest.

 

"I for one am with you Shepard, the chance to help strike against those that took our homeland is every Quarian's dream. Keelah Se'lia!" The other Quarians seemed to agree as they followed suit with the cry, Shepard smiling as he heard Tali sniffle loudly from behind him. Waiting for the docking area to quieten once more, Shepard grinned and gestured at Seratha.

 

"I am glad to hear you say this and I promise that we will definitely do our best to make our mark against the Geth. Now Seratha nar Hrroth, step up here please." Seratha suddenly seemed a lot less sure of herself before she quickly made her way up to the base of the crate and accepted Shepard's offered hand to get up there with him. Gesturing for her to stand across from him, Shepard then spoke up whilst grabbing the two items he had gotten from the Spectre requisition stores the hour before. "Seratha nar Hrroth, do you accept being placed under my command as part of my Spectre entourage and all the responsibilities that are linked to such a position?"

 

Holding up the badge of the spectres which he had managed to get personalised so it was bronze instead of silver and also with a letter S cutting across the symbol coloured white, it took Seratha a moment to comprehend what he was asking. When she did however she reached across and took the badge firmly before saluting quickly.

 

"Commander, Captain Shepard, I would be honoured, but are you sure you wish to do..." She trailed off when Shepard nodded before holding up the other item, a pin that was universally recognised and caused the Quarians to increase their muttering once more with a much more excited tone.

 

"Seratha nar Hrroth, do you accept the captaincy of the Ontario and the leadership of those stood before you?" There was no doubt to the shaking in her hands this time as she reached out and grasped the pin reverently, holding it like it was made from glass as the sound of her sobbing became audible despite being muffled by her suit. Grabbing her left hand, Shepard turned to the crowd and raised her hand in the air.

 

"Crew of the Ontario, I present to you Seratha vas Ontario nar Hrroth, your new captain. Keelah Se'lia!" The use of the Quarian phrase was a bit of a risk and he knew he had pronounced it slightly wrong, but it seemed that the Quarians were too excited too care, several jumping up and down in excitement as Seratha suddenly went limp, forcing him to reach round and steady her with his other hand. Looking across at Tali who was clapping along with the rest of them, Shepard couldn't help but grin slightly awkwardly as he hefted the unconscious new captain so he was carrying her with his shoulders.

 

"Maybe a little too much?" Tali shook her head as she strode forwards to help him lower Seratha down to the Quarians who were waiting to move her to her new ship, her voice whilst obviously trying to be chiding was full of emotion.

 

"Shepard, you just essentially declared your complete trust in not one but two Quarians and elevated one of them to a captaincy! I can't think of the last time someone did that, certainly not on the Citadel or a Spectre of the Council. I wouldn't be surprised if by the time Seratha wakes up... Never mind Shepard, but thank you for doing this, we will not let you down I promise." Whatever she decided not to say, Shepard wasn't going to push her on, he was sure if it were important she would let him know.  

 

With Seratha safely down Shepard knelt before hopping down himself, making his way through the ecstatic Quarians who all saluted as he went past them to where many of the Normandy crew were stood watching, with Ashley stood at the front of them with a frown on her face. Thinking of what might have caused the unimpressed expression, Shepard thought it might have been the presenting of the badge solidifying Seratha's link to him and had had the forethought to purchase enough of them to equip the entire Normandy crew. Gesturing to where he had had Wrex place the box on their return, Shepard put on what he hoped was his most charming smile.

 

"So, whilst we have a mission to get too shortly, who wants to get their badge next?" Whilst most of the gathered crew looked more than eager enough at the idea, Ashley's frown mirrored a couple of others in the small crowd that remained, letting Shepard know that there was still some that he would still need to persuade round to the new members of their mission. She said nothing about it during the presenting of the symbols to each of the crew, but she was noticeably absent from accepting one herself. As the crew moved off in groups to board the Normandy Shepard saw her stood a little awkwardly off to one side and he decided to try and deal with this before it became a true problem. She saw him as he approached and stepped to attention, her face a near unreadable mask.

 

"Commander." The return to the use of his rank rather than his much preferred surname let Shepard know quite how upset Ashley was about something. As he did not know precisely what the problem was Shepard tried to get Ashley to tell him.

 

"Is something the matter Ashley? I noticed you didn't collect a symbol from me, is this because you don't want to be associated with me?" Whilst he said the final question with a slightly joking tone it still caused Ashley to flinch slightly before shaking her head.

 

"Of course not Comm... Shepard, you saved my life and nothing you have or could do would make me regret serving under you. It's just..." She faltered and Shepard tried to make himself seem as open as possible. It seemed to work as with a deep breath and a squaring of her shoulders Ashley spoke, a lot more unsurely than he had heard from her before.

 

"I don't want to question your authority or decisions Shepard, but are you sure we can trust all of these..." The word aliens went unsaid and for the first time Shepard saw a slight ugly side to Ashley that he hadn't honestly expected from the young woman. Racism, or elitism or whatever else you wanted to call it was not just prevalent in certain sectors of humanity but other races as well, the general Batarian attitude to humanity being one of the most poignant and personal examples, but in general the human Alliance was fairly good at avoiding such feelings being maintained in its recruits. Ashley continued as Shepard processed his thoughts, obviously something showed on his face as she seemed to backtrack slightly. "It's not for the reasons you think Shepard, but with Saren's vast network and the sensitivity of the technology on the Normandy, how can we be sure that one of these Quarians isn't one of his spies?"

 

It was a good question and something he had of course considered when initially recruiting, but he could tell whilst Ashley was trying to decry any elitist attitude there was something of it there with her specificity of the Quarians. As such, he went with the same answer he had given to Udina when the man had initially heard of who he was now crewing his transport ship with.

 

"How can we be sure of anyone's loyalty Ash, including members of the Normandy? Saren has shown that whilst he dislikes our kind he will still happily use them with Fist and some of the mercenaries he has sent after us on the Citadel. Whilst they might all be loyal there are many ways Saren could force them to work for him, willingly or otherwise. The reason why I trust these Quarians is because they have if anything more of a reason to want to fight Saren and the Geth then we do. Because of the Geth they have lost their homeland and are forced to live as unwanted refugees disliked by the rest of the citadel races even more than we are. Because of the Geth they are forced to live in their suits without chance or hope to remove them, with any injury or suit rupture spelling death or prolonged agony to them. To work with Saren would be spitting on their ancestors memories as well as their own chances of retaking their home world."

 

"That is perhaps the most accurate summation of our feelings towards the Geth by a non-Quarian I have heard Shepard, though if it weren't such a serious moment I would be hugging you to death right now." Tali's voice made Ashley stiffen even more as the Quarian approached, obviously they hadn't been as subtle or quiet during their talk as originally intended. Tali walked up to Ashley and seemed to study her for a moment before speaking once more, her voice softer and sadder. "I should, I want to slap you so hard right now, but rationally I know that your concerns are at least mostly because of valid concern and not aimed at my people directly. All I can say is that I trust each and every Quarian to choose to die painfully rather than work with or for the Geth. So I suppose the question is, do you trust me Ashley? If not I am happy for you to have our every move and action followed for signs of betrayal, but I had thought that our actions and time together meant a little more than that."

 

The two women stared off for a moment and Shepard was worried that the situation may still come to blows over the matter. Then Ashley stepped forward and wrapped Tali in a strong if awkward hug as tears became visible in her eyes. As the two women exchanged muttered words Shepard decided to give them some space, he could instead focus on getting a plan for Feros together so that if need be there would be Alliance forces nearby that he could 'commandeer' with his Spectre status...

 

***

 

"Oh, before I go. You said you were serving with Commander Shepard now? We saw him on the news, is he as cute as the vids make out? Make sure to get me a good photo, later sis." Shepard was just walking up to check on Ashley when he caught the end of the recorded message she had been playing. Ashley turned around after it finished and upon sighting him so close to her, she shook her head despairingly and groaned.

 

"Tell me you didn't hear that Shepard." Shepard chuckled at the slight blush on Ashley's face, since she had her little heart to heart with Tali she had generally been quite a bit warmer and more open to everyone, so he couldn't resist having a little fun, they still had a couple of hours before Feros after all.

 

"I am afraid I did, so what do you think, am I as good looking as the videos show?" He pulled off an exaggerated macho man pose and Ashley looked torn between complete embarrassment and laughing out loud. Eventually she seemed to compose herself enough to reply, but Shepard could still hear the gasping laughter of Garrus behind him.

 

"Oh, shoot me now. Shepard please stop before Garrus splits himself a new seam on his face." Shepard chuckled again at the wheezing outrage of Garrus at that point but he obliged as Ashley continued. "One of my sisters, Sarah, she's the youngest." Ashley's face hardened a little then as she seemed to remember something. "I am surprised to see you here, thought you would be showing our new guest around, T'soni wasn't it? Orders from on high and all." Okay, Shepard knew he was a bit dense when it came to women but even he could read the jealousy in that statement.

 

"You mean Liara, why would you assume I was spending time with her when I am here talking to you now?" Ashley seemed to realise she had been a bit callous and lowered her head slightly along with her voice.

 

"Sorry sir, but given your interactions with Tali and the Quarians, and with the regulations about fraternisation in the crew, well she does at least look like a woman." Well that was a veritable minefield of areas where he could drop his foot in it with both Ashley and every other member of the crew. Seeing Wrex stood nearby enough that he had probably heard everything, Shepard decided that humour was definitely his best defence here.

 

"So you are saying that you don't think me and Wrex can work Ash? And here I had so many dreams..." Garrus, who had only just about recovered, started bawling with laughter once more to the point he was resting against the side of the Mako for support. Wrex had a hearty chuckle at that before turning to Shepard and winking.

 

"Sorry Shepard, you are just too much man for my tastes." As the two males continued to laugh it off Shepard turned back to Ashley who was smiling once more with a little trepidation still in her eyes.

 

"Remember Ash, I am no longer official Alliance military, the regs mean nothing. So if you are worried about Liara and Tali, remember you have a dinner reservation ahead of them, though I am still expecting that skirt..." He said it quietly enough that the others didn't hear it, but Ashley sure did and despite her blush she looked happier than he had seen her in days. As the chuckling from the peanut gallery died down she seemed to weigh something up before shaking her head and speaking once more, obviously determined to ignore his comments.

 

"So Shepard, what did you need? As I doubt you came here just to destroy what little dignity I had left and listen in to my family mail." Seeing that she was a little put out by his joking, he decided to be a little more serious as well as find out about his crew.

 

"I didn't mean to, I was just popping by to check in. Tell me about your family, they seem to be very important to you." Ashley's face became a little more open at that and Shepard could tell she was remembering something that brought her a happy feeling.

 

"Yeah, we have always been close. Me and my sisters more so. As the eldest and with Dad on duty I had to help raise them. There was me, then Abby, Lynn and Sarah who you heard on there. She is the youngest and is still in high school. My dad used to say with so many of us he felt more outnumbered at home then on manoeuvres." The idea of a military man coming home and being swamped by four young girls made Shepard smile, and lead onto the next question.

 

"What about your parents, what did they do?" The talk continued for several minutes, with Wrex weighing in as Shepard’s past as usual reared its ugly head. Shepard had to admit, even with his crappy family history, Wrex's father trying to kill him and Wrex being forced to kill him in battle trumped his for worst family moment ever. The fact that Ashley then opened up with the tale of her sister's boyfriend trouble made Shepard glad that they were in fact on a frigate rather than a bigger ship as Wrex chuckled at the boyfriends beatings before nodding appreciatively to the self-defence her sisters had learned. Such tight quarters made you interact with the others more, and in almost all cases forced you to find a middle ground to meet upon.

  
Her reciting Tennyson lost him for a minute, but Garrus had obviously heard of it and moved over to talk as well. By the end of the conversation Shepard could see the three soldiers had bonded a lot more than they had before, continuing to banter with each other even after he bid them farewell. Now he just had to go chat to Tali about how to deal with the fact his new captain seemed to spend most of her time talking to him in the comm room being too embarrassed to talk with him directly...

 

**A/N: I know I know, I said this chapter would include Feros, but given that I haven’t had the time or motivation lately to do any ME stuff I thought I should at least post something to keep my readers happy. Hope you enjoy it and review to tell me what you think**


	6. Feros, it's in the Blood

So he had the daughter of a well respected Matriarch, a daughter of one of the Quarians top admirals and a self exiled Krogan warlord on his ship, if his ship got destroyed now or his teams got killed by Saren, the political nightmare for the Alliance was unthinkable. Shepard was now waiting for Ashley to tell him she was the next in line for the British royal family and Garrus to be the heir of the Turian Primarch and their little celebrity ship would be complete.

 

Of course, being related to such important people meant that they had their own issues to deal with and Shepard could respect that, if they had time he would be happy to help each of them. But for now, looking down on Feros' surface through the Normandy's view port, he had concerns of his own to deal with.

 

Waters was proving her usefulness already, using the scanners to accurately identify a safe landing zone near to the colony itself for them to land within five minutes of them being in scanner range, as well as highlighting the high activity areas of Geth, which were towards what he understood to be the Exogeni main research base. Obviously, the reason why the Geth were here was based around there, or they were pacifying the Exogeni people first before moving on to wipe out the colonists. Either way, it was his first concern to get down there and ensure the colonists were safe and then he could worry about Exogeni and the Geth.

 

“Joker, prepare for a ground landing at the coordinates Ensign Waters has identified and give the ready order to the ground teams. I want them suited and booted by the time we get docked, we have a large number of Geth to kill and some no doubt to be ungrateful Exogeni staff to save.” There was a muffled acknowledgement from Joker at the front of the ship as Shepard stood up from where he had been looking at the map, glancing over at where Waters was working away with a small smile, despite his initial concerns she was fitting in just fine with the bridge crew, even Pressley didn't have a bad word to say about her. He spoke up just before he went to get ready, he was a big believer in acknowledging effort and results after all.

 

“Waters, excellent work. Make sure to keep Joker in order whilst I am gone okay?” She nodded with a grin of her own as he headed for the stairs, snapping a salute just before he left sight.

 

“Of course Commander, good hunting down there!”

 

The ships had landed on an outcrop overlooking the main part of the Prothean ruins, the craggy drop off meaning there were only two easy descents from there towards the ruins and the Feros colony, which Shepard had the marine teams begin to fortify whilst he lead his, well team wasn't quite the right word now that there were 9 of them, one of the Quarians he had hired onto the Ontario having been a ship security member and with his combat training he filled out the 9th member of the three fire teams that made up Shepards 'squad'.

 

With the idea that he would need diplomacy from his teams as well as brute force, Shepard had placed Kaidan and Garrus in charge of the other teams, both having been trained in dealing with people unlike the others. Separating the others had been a bit more of a challenge as he had no idea what he could end up facing in the course of the mission, but he decided in the end to pair Tali and Wrex under Kaidan whilst Ashley and Liara would be under Garrus, Tali would be good at keeping the Krogan from killing someone because he was bored at any rate. That left Shepard with Dahlia and the Quarian, which wasn't ideal but he knew he could deal with the mismatched pair better than the others would be able to, and given that Dahlia was relying on him to keep her alive he knew they would have his back at least.

 

Making their way down the windy path like scar that cut into the plateau, Shepard was slightly surprised when Garrus reported sighting a human in the remnants of what must have been the colony, the man obviously waiting for them. Indicating to the other two teams that they should spread out and start searching the ruins for threats, Shepard then lead his team towards the man who simply nodded at their arrival.

 

“We saw your ship, Fai Dan sent me to escort you, he wishes to speak with you.” Even as Shepard was both a little affronted and annoyed by the self righteous arrogance of the man as he essentially ordered them to come with him, there was the sound of a sniper round being fired off to his left and Garrus’ voice came over the comms a moment later as the sounds of combat began in full concert of automatic fire and grenade explosions.

 

“Contact Shepard, at least 3 dozen Geth and a couple of bigger ones, this guy wasn’t the only one who saw us land it seems...” Shoving the man behind some rubble as the first of the aforementioned Geth charged into view through the ruins with rifle raised, Shepard was glad that he could at least take out his frustration at the man’s opening on these Geth and therefore hopefully be a bit calmer by the time this was over...

 

***

 

With a team of 9 it hadn’t taken very long at all to mop the Geth up, even with the help of the newly minted Geth Destroyers doing their best to overwhelm Garrus’ team. The combination of biotics, tech attacks and accurate weapons fire very quickly overwhelmed the Destroyers and left the remaining Geth out of position as they had attempted to follow their assault brethrens charge.

 

What was more concerning to Shepard was the lack of emotional reaction by an obvious civilian to the fighting that had just taken place. As a medic as well as a PTSD sufferer, Shepard knew that the human psyche did not cope well with combat, especially if it had not been prepared for it in the case of the ambush there. But the man sent to meet them had barely reacted at all, only reiterating his earlier request/command when the fighting was over.

 

Why it was so important that the Zhu’s Hope colony leader needed to speak to them was something that the man dodged around incessantly when he had tried to press him on the matter, so in the end Shepard decided to remain on edge and go with it for now. Shepard had left Kaidan and his team at the fight area whilst a salvage crew from the Ontario came to collect the Geth and their weapons, Alliance command would definitely want as many samples as they could get hold of to give to R+D. Also, leaving a team behind meant that if this meeting with Fai Dan was a trap then there was a group on the outside that could come to support them.

 

Which was the situation Shepard found himself in now, having successfully driven the Geth from the ExoGeni tower where they seemed to be concentrating their operations, the colonists had gone nuts and had attacked Kaidan’s team and the Ontario salvage crew who had been sweeping the areas his strike force had already cleared. Luckily Kaidan had managed to force an organised withdrawal through use of grenades and powers without any fatalities on either side, though one of the Quarians had been wounded and was currently running an infection in the Normandy’s Medibay.

 

When Shepard had revealed the colonists attack and obvious psychosis to the Exogeni survivors, who he had originally found when they had been making their way to the Exogeni headquarters, things had very quickly escalated. Looking back on it, Shepard knew that opening with asking about the Thorian was probably a bad idea given how tightlipped and defensive Ethan Jeong had been regarding ExoGeni’s work on the planet from the outset, but given what he had found at the VI terminal and Lizbeth Baynham’s own words when she had stormed into the place he had no choice.

 

Ethan drawing a gun on him and getting the security guards to arm themselves might have been intimidating to normal people, but after Krogan, Geth and Varren Shepard really didn’t care all that much for a glorified bureaucrat, walking forward and allowing his shields to soak the two rounds Ethan Jeong fired at him before clocking him full in the face. The security guards looked to be thinking about fighting, but the rest of his team were already in position and ready to fire the moment they did so, so strangely enough they stood down And surrendered their weapons to his team.

 

Promising to deal with Jeong later, Shepard was on his way out of the door to head back to the colony and confront this Thorian when Lizbeth had approached him with a set of special grenades that she said would be able to knock out the colonists without injuring or killing them if they were caught in the gaseous release. Shepard analysed the gas for a few minutes just to make sure this wasn't a cover to kill the colonists in a way to hide what ExoGeni had done but found it to be exactly what Lizbeth said it was, he was even able to use his omni tool to make some more from omni gel in case he needed it.

 

He was still only left with a dozen grenades and three darts that he could fire from his wrist launcher, so getting to the Thorian had been dicey without killing any of the colonists, Shepard taking a couple of risky close combat assaults to knock out some of the less armed and armoured colonists in order to keep there supply count up. The darts had been useful when Fai Dan had confronted them at the entrance to the tunnels, the colony leader obviously doing his best to resist the Thorians influence as he spoke to them about how hard he had resisted the things attempts to control him before trying to shoot himself.

 

The dart didn’t fully knock him out but striking him in the shoulder knocked the gun away from his head as it fired, though Garrus following up with a headbutt whilst Fai Dan was still recoiling definitely made sure he wouldn’t be trying again anytime soon. With the defending colonists neutralised, though some of them would be needing medical treatment after this was all over due to the force that had been used whilst conserving grenades, Shepard had signalled Kaidan and his team to meet up with them.

 

As much as he would have liked to leave Kaidan at the colony itself in case of a Geth surprise attack, Shepard knew that if even half of what he had heard about this Thorian was true he would need all the help he could spare in case it proved hostile. As they descended in the direction Lizbeth had indicated the Thorian’s main sensory core was highlighted, Tali was still rather excited about the amount of Geth tech they had amassed over the course of the mission, talking excitedly with Shepard as they moved at the front of the strike force.

 

“This is incredible, I think we have more Geth technology collected over the last few missions that my people have managed to amass in a decade. Now all we need to do is find this creature and... oh Keelah!” Tali’s gasped exclamation was more than justified as they stepped through into a large open topped cavern and were confronted with the largest living... thing Shepard had ever seen. It looked almost like a giant brain that had mutiple tendrils growing from it, each of which was wider than Wrex in full battle armour.

 

Reaching up for his earpiece as he thought through the situation as fast as he could, Shepard radioed the Normandy as quietly as he could physically get away with.

 

“Joker, get the Normandy airborne and above our position right now, I am going to need that bigger gun you keep boasting about...”

 

***

 

Given it’s size and apparent ability to grow some kind of plant like husk creature that Ashley had very quickly termed ‘Creepers’, Shepard had expected the resulting fight that erupted when the Thorian refused to listen to his promises that he wasn’t here to kill it to be a little more difficult. Looking back on it now if he had tried to destroy the thing himself it would have been quite challenging even with 9 of them, the waves of Creepers and Asari clones would have been a lot more difficult to defeat if they had been on the offensive instead of merely holding the cavern entrance.

 

Instead, they had merely held off the waves of enemies the increasingly desperate Thorian had thrown at them until the Normandy’s GARDIAN lasers had burnt through the vegetation that had shielded it from above before unleashing their full onslaught against the giant creature. They could have used the main cannon, but Shepard assumed the colonists would want their colony back when they woke up and therefore had ignored Joker’s whining about not being able to use it.

 

As the Thorian screeched in pain for the final time before plummeting into the depths of the cavern it had suspended itself in, the Creepers suddenly collapsed into green sludge without a sound. Looking around cautiously at the suddenly silent chamber, Shepard indicated for the teams to split up once more to search the area in more detail.

 

Samples of the Creepers, the Thorian itself and the bodies of the strange Asari would need to be collected before ExoGeni tried to cover up the whole thing, but Shepard was primarily interested in anything Saren might have left behind after visiting the Thorian that might be useful in hunting him down. Suddenly there was the distinctive sound of a biotic ability from his left and hurrying in it’s direction Shepard found himself looking at Wrex who was using his lift power to levitate a rather disorientated Asari.

 

"I was tempted, given how little a fight those damn weeds put up, but I then thought you might not let me on anymore missions and given the size of that thing." Wrex jerked a hand in the direction of the Thorian's resting place as the lift ended and the Asari dropped to the ground, looking up in time to catch Wrex's shotgun butt to the face and slump to the ground.

 

"There's no way I'm going to miss that. Now, shall we get the actual salvage crew down here whilst you play medic with Tali or do I have to sift through all this shit myself?" Wrex was referring to the fact that Tali had been one of the only two team members to suffer an injury, the other being Dahlia who had jumped in the way of an Asari warp that had collapsed her shields only to then get clipped by one of the creepers acid attacks.

 

That had been quite early on and Shepard had already treated that as best he could, though she would need some time with Dr Chakwas and a new suit of armour before she would be fully battle ready again. Though he did intend to ask her later what had driven her to leap in front of the attack meant for him, probably a rather foolish attempt to earn his trust so that he would relax the rather strident measures he had in place whenever they were planetside.

 

Tali had been caught in melee with a pair of Creepers during the final attack by the Thorian and though she had quickly taken both apart with her shotgun she had a large scratch down her left arm, deadly for a Quarian even if only mildly annoying for another race.

 

Nodding in agreement to summon the Ontario, Shepard made his way over to where Tali and the other  Quarian had been working, Tali injecting herself with a couple of vials of general antibiotics whilst the other Quarian had sprayed the wound and surrounding area with a fast setting polymer gel. It would have to be removed later for proper treatment but preventing any more contamination of Tali's system was first priority. As he reached into his belt for his diagnostic equipment the Quarian stood, saluted and backed away respectfully, allowing him to begin his scans to determine whether a more specialised antibiotic or antifungal agent might be required to deal with whatever the creepers were made out of.

 

"Oh, Shepard, did you take care of that overgrown bosh'tet and come to save me? I knew you liked me more than that bitch Seratha, though you did give her a ship... Oh a butter bug!" As He did his best to stop the now doped up Tali from trying to chase whatever this butter bug was meant to be, Shepard tried to ignore Wrex's grunting chuckle as the Krogan co-ordinated the landing parties.

 

From the sounds of it Wrex was sending the Normandy's marine teams to secure the Exo-geni employees whilst the Ontario landed next to the colony, so he would only have to deal with the other Quarians seeing Tali do her best to hug him like some kind of giant cuddly toy...

 

***

 

The clean up had gone well from there on in, the colonists awaking a few hours later and seemingly cured  of the effects of the Thorian, though an Alliance science team was already on their way to begin dealing with any long term effects the colonists might end up suffering. Due to their fighting with the Geth to protect the Thorian until Shepard had arrived, Zhu's Hope had actually accumulated a large amount of Geth hardware and weapons of their own, something Shepard had been happy to pay them a generous fee for when it was revealed that Jeong and Exo-Geni were pulling out of the colony venture all together, though that no doubt had something to do with the fact the Thorian was no more.

 

Fai Dan had been ecstatic once he had woken up, ignoring the injured shoulder and concussion he was recovering from to enthusiastically shake every single one of their hands, twice in Shepards case. Supposedly the money Shepard was giving them for the Geth tech as well as the cancellation fee that Exo-Geni was now due to pay them for breaking the contact early meant that the colony should be able to survive the foreseeable future. When Shepard asked about pressing charges regarding the human experimentation however, Fai Dan shook his head in defeat.

 

“It turns out there was a small sub-clause in our contracts, whilst it doesn’t condone Exo-Geni carrying out experiments upon us it means that anything we may suffer due to the planet or it’s inhabitants is not Exo-Geni’s responsibility and they cannot be held legally accountable. And given their army of lawyers and the offer of a increased payout I decided it would be better for us to take the money rather than get into a legal battle that I knew I couldn’t win.”

  
It made sense, but even if the colonists weren’t prepared to challenge Exo-Geni for their actions, Shepard had his own bones to pick with them. As such, when he returned to the Normandy he had instructed Lt Waters to get him a line to someone in Exo-Geni’s legal department about the attempted murder of a Spectre by an Exo-Geni employee as well as obstructing an Council investigation.

 

The image of the panic that would be kicking in at wherever the Exogeni headquarters at that communication brought a chuckle to his lips even as he finished his debriefing to the council, chances are that Exogeni would be REALLY eager to not have the attempted Spectre murder charge brought up against them. So he hadn’t mentioned Jeong shooting him in his report to the Council, better for him and the colonists if he kept this out of the galactic courts.

 

Especially given the hostility that he was still getting from the Turian Councillor who seemed to think that Shepard would stand aside and watch if it was a non human colony in trouble. Luckily it seemed that the Turian wasn’t just aggravating him, as both the Asari and the Salarian Councillors had been quick to move away from the topic as soon as they could get a word in edgeways.

 

The Salarian had actually brought an offer from the STG for some of the Geth technology that Shepard had found, the lizardman not oblivious enough to actually speak about the offer in person in front of the others but instead sent it as an email packet that Shepard could view later, only mentioning it to make it clear that the Salarians approved of his actions both on and off the battlefield thus far.

 

It also showed that it wasn’t just the Alliance that were wanting to prepare themselves against this new threat, which given the threat of the Reapers that Shepard still hadn’t even tried to emphasise given the frosty reception of the first meeting about them could only be a good thing.

 

Extra resources and support was definitely not something Shepard would ignore, so he would discuss it with Anderson to work out what percentage of the technology he had he would be prepared to give to the Salarians rather than the Alliance, whilst he was technically a free agent now old loyalties die hard. Still, that was a concern for later, for now he had a certain Asari to talk to about her actions against the creepers.

 

Dahlia wasn't hard to find, being restricted when not on a mission to the makeshift holding area that Shepard had constructed in the cargo bay in case they actually captured Saren or some of his allies, under guard by a pair of marines from the strike squads. Whilst she had the threat of her sister hunting her down if she left, that fear didn't necessarily translate into loyalty to him, and Shepard wasn't so trusting as to leave a potential flight risk free aboard his ship.

 

Nodding as the two marines saluted, Shepard waited whilst one of them typed in the access code to the holding area before the door opened silently to allow him entrance. The holding area was actually quite nicely furnished considering its purpose, the bolted down bed more comfortable than the average serviceman’s bunk, a fully functioning if sparse bathroom suite and even a console to allow the perusal of certain sections of the extranet if Shepard would allow it.

 

Dahlia had been doing just that as Shepard entered, the former pirate quick to move into the traditional Asari bow of subservience and leaving the console purposefully open, obviously to show Shepard that she was not trying to hide anything from him.

 

“Commander, I apologise for not being prepared for your arrival, how may I serve?” Though she wasn’t openly angry at how she felt she had to act, Shepard could tell by the slight twitch in the tone of her voice that didn’t like bowing to anyone, probably how her and her sister had fallen out given Nassana’s self assured dismissal of the charges he had tried to level in her direction.

 

“Dahlia, please stop that, both of us know you don’t mean how you act in the slightest. I would prefer you to be honest and disrespectful rather than pretend to be nice and lie to me.” Dahlia looked up cautiously and after reading his face for a moment she smiled and quickly moved to sit back on the sole chair in the room.

 

“You are as observant as the others alluded to Commander, which is why I can live with this imprisonment that you gave me, I would have been far less happy to follow an idiot that let me free range of this ship just because I said I would behave. Those kind of people end up with a knife in their backs sooner than most and therefore not very useful as a shield for me to use to keep my sister away from me. But I doubt you came to me to cover boring small talk and you have been more generous than any other man I have known given our... different walks of life, so what can I do for you commander?”

 

The subservient girl who he had interrogated and then spared from C-Sec was gone, undoubtedly the facade Dahlia often used to try and get herself out of trouble if direct violence wasn’t an option, instead there was the ruthless Asari warrior who had centuries of fighting experience both physically and verbally. Shepard wasn’t particularly surprised at the true persona, but it did make his question all the more pertinent.

 

“Why jump in front of an attack meant for me then when we were facing the Thorian? If I had gone down the team would probably have been too distracted to stop you from slipping away, and despite your protests about your sister wanting to kill you I am sure there are numerous ways you could disappear for a few decades...” Dahlia seemed pleased both by the question and the deduction he had made, her hand going up to gesture in his direction.

 

“I might save you from an early death yet Shepard, I have two reasons for wanting you alive and me in your good books. Firstly, I have read up about you Hero of Elysium, humanity’s first Spectre, Butcher of Mindoir...” Her mentioning of the title that was only muttered by the bravest of Batarians in the dark holes of Citadel space where the Slavers of that race hid, classified as part of his N7 work, proved without a doubt that saving her rather than just killing her or handing her in would be a boon if he came out of this the right way, and it also showed that Dahlia was bringing most if not all of her own cards to the table.

 

“When you live for over a millenia like the Asari do, you tend to notice trends amongst the mortal races that  can only be discerned over centuries. I am not anywhere near becoming a matriarch, and with my past I doubt the role will ever appeal to me, but I have lived for over 600 years now and I see in you what I have seen in several others before.”

 

“Some claim it is the touch of fate, the hand of destiny on your shoulder, or other such nonsense that is bandied around by those who are jealous of your accolades and acclaim.  I don’t care enough for postulating to come up with my own opinion, but what I do know is this. You are at the centre of many of the defining moments in recent history and this business with Saren proves that this will continue to be the case for quite some time.”

 

Obviously this level of openness was difficult for Dahlia, the Asari having to take several moments in the midst of her revelation of her thoughts to consider what to say next, Shepard staying quiet so as not to break her chain of thought.

 

“So, with the idea of creating a group of Asari younglings to follow my teachings and becoming immortalised in that manner completely out of the picture, I intend to ensure I become renowned in another. If you will let me, I will act as your advisor and mediator to those that would wish you to become just another heroic martyr for their cause, allowing you to become my legacy.”

 

This talk of legacy and immortality was definitely not what Shepard was expecting as one of Dahlia’s reasons, there was definitely something  she wasn’t telling him about her reason but Shepard trusted what she had told him thus far enough to not press more than was necessary.

  
“So you wish to make me a legend? I will admit I won’t be complaining about that as long as it is the right sort of legend. But you said there were two reasons for wanting to keep me alive and trusting you?” Dahlia chuckled and shrugged.

  
“Well Shepard, when you get to my age, you need a new project or two to keep you from getting bored...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Boom, Feros kept short and sweet, which in my opinion is fine as it is definitely not the sort of mission that you need to drag out overly much. To be honest, the aftermath of Feros is the main thing I have always felt needed changing, Exo-Geni effectively getting away with human experimentation and (in this case at least), obstructing and then trying to kill a Spectre to cover up their dirty little secrets. 
> 
> So whilst not being a major feature in the story, there will be a lot of grovelling from said company to avoid that kind of PR going public (the damage such stories would do to their profit margin with the Alliance would be huge.)
> 
> What did we think of Dahlia? I didn’t want her to be another yes man in Shepard’s crusade of justice, nor did I want her personality to be such that it reduced her impact as a character. She is an Asari corsair and given we know she is quite like her sister she is ruthless, cutthroat and at best a very dark grey character in the rather murky morality of the ME universe. 
> 
> Of course, what she has told Shepard isn’t the entire truth and in some cases it is a very loose grasp on the realms of truthfulness, but given the way the Asari seem to act in the ME universe, I like to think my logic of her aspirations with Shepard aren’t too far fetched.
> 
> Let me know what you think guys!


	7. The Grand Opening

After the events on Feros, they had 'checked in' with some of Dahlia's former contacts and rivals before heading to the Citadel, the pirates and smugglers easy pickings for a stealth ship and his impressive if unconventional strike force. The Pirates had all been killed apart from their leader and two of the newest members, who Shepard had brought back to the Citadel for the bounty the Turian leader had for him, whilst the smugglers had surrendered after the first few shots had been fired.

With 3 new ships from the two outposts they cleared, two modified cargo transports and a small assault frigate that was probably commissioned from the time of the Battle of Elysium, along with all the equipment and supplies that had been present at the outposts, Shepard was definitely pleased with himself as he met Jorgun for the first time since leaving for Feros. There was everything from military weapons and high level upgrade parts to red sand and other illegal drugs. He had destroyed the red sand and the worst of the drugs, but most of the others could be distilled into their base components and used in other legal medicines.

In regards to the proposition related to  _Shepards Stockade,_ Shepard had read through the simple contract, where he would agree to sell all his surplus weapons to Jorgun at a discounted price who would then sell them, either in the shop itself or bulk sales given the large number of early model hurricanes and banshees John seemed to be accumulating. Then Shepard would get 20% of the profits on the other side for the weapons he brought in from his travels and 4% for the other items sold in the store for his image rights and sponsorship.

It was a contract valid for 2 years and then would be open to renewal, which served both parties interests dependent on how the shop did in that time, if it was hugely successful than Shepard could negotiate for a higher cut, if it did less well than expected Jorgun could ask for a lower selling price of the weapons. Speaking of, the Salarian was currently looking through the weapons that the Ontario's crew were unloading in grav racks with undisguised glee, obviously calculating how much the weapons were worth.

"Incredible, yes, perfect. Must say Shepard, when you sent paperwork through for Stockade contract was not expecting so much. Have to rethink storage, can't use shop, grand opening tonight now you are back." Jorgun gave John a pointed look at this point before continuing.

"You will attend I hope, personal appearance would greatly enhance store's reputation." Knowing that Jorgun was right, despite hating himself mentally for admitting that, Shepard nodded his ascent. From the spiel of names and 'important people' that were supposed to be coming that evening, this was going to be exactly as long and tedious an evening as he expected it was going to be.

Jorgun had eventually slowed in his constant speech about what Shepard needed to know enough to let John move the conversation forwards, the two of them discussing a few other minor issues before it became clear the businessman was too distracted to focus on things other than the opening.

So Shepard had let Jorgun get back to checking the weapons, after promising to arrive no later than four that evening of course, but he had other business to take care of on the Citadel first. The first item of which was just off the main area of the Presidium, in a set of high end meeting rooms that could be privately hired by those who wished for discretion, outside which Dahlia was waiting with Wrex.

Both of the the veteran mercenaries seemed to enjoy the look of apprehension on the Exo-Geni representative's face as the middle aged balding man saw them stalk in after Shepard. After introductions, Shepard had actually enjoyed the initial haggling over how much his silence over Feros and Jeong's actions were worth, especially as such actions could result in both the Alliance and the Council starting an investigation into the company's actions elsewhere in the galaxy.

Of course, even once the price had been agreed at 350,000 credits, there was then the details about the how. Given he was a Spectre, the normal laws about taxation didn't apply if he could prove it was related to spectre business. If need be John was certain he could explain it away, but still he preferred to avoid those questions in the first place.

He had turned down the shares that he had been offered initially, Exo-Geni's stock had taken a hit from the attacks on Eden Prime and Feros and given Saren's hatred of humanity it wasn't going to get better anytime soon. As the negotiations lengthened, in part due to the repeated number of phone calls the rep had to make to someone higher up in the food chain, Shepard decided he had better things to do than sit and wait for things to pan out. So he had left Wrex in charge of negotiations, something Dahlia seemed to approve of given the reps troubled expression as he looked up at the Krogan's smirking face.

The next in the list of things to do was to trade in the cargo ships he had acquired. Whilst John didn't have a use for the assault frigate right now or the aspiration to crew it, if it ever did come to needing some more muscle against Saren it would be a good start. So it was just the cargo ships that he was selling for now, and given the hidden compartments that were on the ship he couldn't just sell them on the open market for other smugglers to take advantage of.

Rather than go to Udina and risk the annoying sarcasm that came with trying to see him without an appointment, Shepard instead went to the Alliance Military Sector. It took some time to find a ship quartermaster that had sufficient authority to buy the ships and Shepard's tiredness after dealing with Jorgun and Exo-Geni meant he didn't haggle quite as much as he possibly could have over the price. Still, the ships were larger than the Ontario by a considerable margin but still on the small side as cargo transporters go, so 30 million for the pair of them was definitely not a bad deal.

It didn't mean the trip was a total pain in the ass apart from the nice pay check, as the Sector also contained the Alliance medical centre. As a medic in the N7 John had quite a lot of interaction with several of the Citadels top doctors, primarily as they were the ones who then performed the long term treatments after his 'hack' jobs in the field kept operatives alive long enough to get to the operating table.

Two of them, Doctor Song and Doctor Trent had even worked with him on his wrist injector system, so Shepard asked after them when he introduced himself at the front desk. Elias Song was busy in a surgery, but Rose Trent had been more than happy to schedule in some time with him. It turned out that John wasn't the only one to have kept working on his prototype over the last couple of years, Rose quickly highlighting several possible upgrades that she and several colleagues had come up with. Some of them were incompatible with the elements that he had already altered, but that didn't mean they weren't good ideas.

If, as John hoped, they could start fielding the wrist launcher to at least the Special Forces, then the potential weight reducing upgrades or increased capacity capabilities would have a very positive impact on the launchers versatility and usefulness. Paying for the upgrade schematics at a price that Shepard almost argued was too low for the amount of effort that had been put into it, as well as several other upgrades for the medbay and the normal medigel dispensers the crew carried around with them, he was ready for the more personal visit he had received a message for.

Treading through the familiar halls of the medical centre, John was stopped several times by saluting servicemen and well wishers, all of whom either came from or were related to people who fought on Elysium. Shepard was used to it, he received hundreds of messages every year thanking him for what he had done after all, but most of them were now dealt with by an V.I rather than swamp his comm accounts.

But as he entered the long term treatment ward and walked up to the bed of the message sender that had gotten through to his actually account inbox, Shepard felt the obvious joy that came over the man's face as he spotted Shepard approaching was that much more real to him than the others.

"Commander!" Corporal Jenkins smile reverted to a wince as he breathed in with heavy distress, the sound of his damaged lungs slightly worrying given the now healed surface skin on Jenkins' chest. Despite the obvious pain, Jenkins carried on speaking a moment later.

"I can't believe you came. I didn't mean to distract you Commander." And as Jenkins continued to talk between hacking coughs and pained wretches, John allowed himself to relax a little and discuss the marine's upcoming lung transplant and recovery plan.

Though it would be another month or so before Jenkins was able to return to light duties, the fact the young marine was around at all was definitely something that Shepard could be happy with himself about...

*Line Break*

The Quarians from the Ontario had been remarkably busy since the two ships had docked, Seratha having relayed over 40 requests from the crew over the course of the time since Feros to either modify or upgrade the ship. Obviously the space farers were unused to a ship that was not in need of constant maintenance and repair to avoid systems failures, and therefore had used their 'free time' to brainstorm improvements that could be made to the Ontario.

John had been surprised when he had checked the list how some of the improvements, particularly to the navigation and internal control systems, were down on the request forms as not requiring any resources or funding. Not wanting to insult his captain with such a question, Shepard instead decided to go to his resident Quarian instead.

Tali had laughs at his evident confusion before insisting they take a tour of the Ontario when they had docked. So here they were and having, at Tali's behest, approved the various requests Shepard was hugely impressed with the results thus far. Half of the internal flooring had or was currently removed and the Quarians were working away at the systems underneath. What surprised Shepard was they were utilising wiring and circuits that he had assumed he would have to sell as junk to do the work, picked up on Feros at Exo-Geni tower amongst the burnt out remnants of the corporations defence force.

"Whilst not as clean as a shipyard or pretty, we know how to make the most out of everything we have Shepard." Tali's pride was easy to hear as they looked over the work, the pair joining in once or twice when heavy lifting was required, though seeing all of this made Shepard wonder something else.

"Tali, I am hugely impressed with all this, but I have to ask, why are there no bigger projects? If you can do this with just some scrap wiring, what could you do with some purpose built parts?" There was a pause for a moment before Tali gave a nervous laugh.

"Well, I will be honest Shepard I don't think we are used to the ability of being able to buy new parts, in the fleet new equipment is bought in only the direst of circumstances. So therefore we have it ingrained in us from a young age to think creatively about how to deal with problems without having to buy anything."

Interesting and certainly made Shepard curious as to quite how powerful an ally the Alliance could make in the Quarians, swapping resources and manufacturing power for the Quarians technological inventiveness and repair skills. But such a recommendation could come later and was far above his head to take charge of, so he would just take advantage of the benefits such a mixed crew gave him.

Now he had an opening to attend and John knew just who he wanted to ask...

*Line Break*

"Shepard, when you asked me to come with you this evening I didn't think there would be quite this many people..." Ashley's nerves mirrored his own as he looked around the wards area that encompassed his newly endorsed/sponsored shop.

He had expected no more than fifty or sixty people and there were at least three times that many in attendance, not including the members of his own crew who had turned out in force despite Shepard trying to downplay his attendance. The hired security had tried to turn Seratha and the others away initially, but a rather harsh word with the security chief put a stop to that.

The crowd was predominantly human, but there was a good mix of other races interspaced throughout, though almost all the Quarians were wearing his badges. Jorgun had hired in some caterers for the event, making John wonder quite how much the Salarian had spent. Though given how much Jorgun seemed to be enjoying himself, talking animatedly with several Volus and a pair of Hanar near the stage set up in front of the Stockade, Shepard decided it wasn't really his concern.

"Don't worry about it Ash, I don't think anyone here is going to be looking for trouble, not with our own security here as well as Jorgun's. So just enjoy the buffet and try and enjoy yourself." Seeing the skeptical look on Ashley's face not entirely disappear, Shepard let a grin appear on his face before letting loose his 'threat'.

"Don't make me order you chief, I did make sure there was a more relaxed uniform for you if you needed it." Shepard couldn't really talk about relaxing the dress code, given he was still dressed in the new armour he had gotten from the Spectre QM after seeing Jenkins, but given the aghast look on Ashley's face followed by her obvious attempt to relax her body language it was worth it.

"Commander Shepard." The greeting caused John to turn, accidentally knocking against a masked Salarian, but the Salarian had hurried off into the crowd before he could try and apologise. Seeing Udina stood there with the Asari and Salarian Councillors, Shepard quickly saluted.

"Councillors, Ambassador, welcome. I must admit I was not expecting you here this evening, this is a pleasant surprise." A partial truth, as long as they were here in a positive sense then the new shop would get even more attention, but their unannounced arrival did make him a little on edge.

"I do wish you hadn't turned up in your armour Shepard, it gives the impression you think something is going to go wrong..." Udina's comment fell a little flat given he still had three Alliance soldiers on guard duty around him, but nobody decided to comment on it as the Salarian Councillor stepped forward to shake Shepard's hand.

"Makes business sense actually, gives weapon shop strong image of a patron who is always prepared and knows what he is endorsing. Nice to see you Spectre Shepard, asked to present thanks from my government for the Geth tech that you were able to spare, scientists and STG group already working on it." Another show of support from a man that Shepard could actually say he was coming to like on a personal level as well as a political one.

As the Salarian stepped back the Asari nodded her head in greeting, gesturing to her own guards with a slight smile. Udina had moved off to go talk to some of the other humans present as she did so, leaving Shepard to fend for himself with two of the most powerful figures in the galaxy, who also happened to technically be his CO's.

"And of course, a Spectre is always prepared just in case he is required. Asha, you and the others spread out and make sure no one is thinking of causing trouble, I am sure the Spectre and his." The Councillor gave Ashley an appraising look for a moment before nodding approvingly.

"Companion will be enough to protect me from anything dangerous this evening, that is assuming of course you don't mind my company Spectre?" Not exactly a request, but given the circumstances better than he expected.

"Not at all Councillor, I just hope you don't mind if the crew and I are a little relaxed this evening in terms of rank. This is their first night on shore in several weeks after all." When first the Asari Councillor and then the Salarian nodded their ascent Shepard decided they had been warned enough. Extending a hand in Ashley's direction, Shepard smiled lightly when Ashley blushed slightly before stepping forwards and saluting the two Councillors.

"Councillors, may I introduce you to Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, one of my strike team and one of my most trusted companions." The comment obviously caught Ashley a little by surprise but she quickly hid it as the Asari started talking once more.

"Yes, it certainly is a diverse team you have gotten together to go after Saren. I am most interested in meeting all of them, from your reports each of them could rival any normal special operations operative..." A compliment, an instruction and a query all wrapped up in a simple and unobtrusive sentence...

*Line Break*

An hour later and the event was slowly winding down, other than two minor issues when people had a little too much to drink it had been a success. The Councillors hadn't stayed too long, only staying for the food and a short interview with Emily Wong, but it had been refreshing to talk to them outside of the Council reports he had to make.

Jorgun had seemed equally pleased, supposedly he had received half a dozen large orders from a few defence contractors who were linked with colonial securities, as well as interest from others that could easily turn into sales. His crew seemed to really enjoy themselves as well, though Wrex had quickly taken over security of the event, the warlord clearly enjoying playing bouncer rather than guest.

They had returned to the Normandy after all then going to Flux, John having to help Ashley as she turned out to be quite the lightweight, though she maintained a surprising level of decorum given her inebriation. As they got into the elevator to head down to their bunk areas, Ashley suddenly went from merely resting on his shoulder to snuggling into his left shoulder and gripping his waist with her right arm.

"Shepard, does this count as a date?" As Garrus chuckled and Wrex halfheartedly held back a similarly inebriated Tali, Shepard decided to make this conversation a little less of a public comedy, so when the doors opened to the crew deck Shepard stepped out with Ashley.

"I am going to take the chief for one of Chakwas' rehydration solutions, then I will bring her down." He thought he had pulled it off, Kaidan walking past him without a word and heading for his bunk, but then just as the elevator doors started to close Tali was pushed out to him as well.

"You can take Tali as well then, being our medic its up to you to 'take care of them'..." Wrex's smirking face was the last thing Shepard saw as the elevator closed once more.

"Shepard, you will get me treated first right?" Tali's question caused Shepard to freeze up, realising with a sudden certainty quite how badly this situation could turn out for him if he made the wrong move...

Persona: Tali

Tali woke up quite quickly as she realised two things were out of place even to her alcohol tinted mind. Firstly, the comfy bed she was currently resting in was definitely not the bunk she had set up in the corner of the engine room. More importantly though, as the memories of the night before started coming back slowly as her mind started to think about something other than the blasted headache, her hands were currently wrapped around someone else in the bed with her.

Even as Tali tried to think of how to get out of the situation she was now in, all the while cursing the existence of alcohol in all its forms, there was the sound of a knock at the door. Tali froze, hoping the person would go away if she remained quiet, opening her eyes as the person in her arms turned slightly in her grip.

"mmmh Shepard..." The mutter confirmed what her eyes saw, the long brown locks definitely were not Shepard's, even as there was a beep at the door and it whooshed open, revealing the man in question carrying a tray. Shepard came in and placed the tray down on his desk without a word, giving Tali the chance to extricate herself from the now identified Ashley and stand.

"Shepard... What happened? Why was I in your bed?" Given she wasn't currently running a high fever and her suit felt intact she wasn't too worried that anything had happened physically, but given their location and how hazy her memory was that didn't mean she was safe.

"I put you two in here last night whilst I went to get you some hydration packs, rather than deal with you two squabbling across the crew deck." Squabbling? Oh Keelah, Tali could feel herself blushing even more as she prayed that she said anything more related to Shepard in his earshot.

Given the predatory smile on his face as he handed her a Quarian adapted hydration pack, her hopes were going unanswered. Her commander seemed to weigh something up in his mind, probably what he wanted to embarrass her with, before shaking his head and giving her one of those simple heartfelt smiles that made her heart flutter.

"Tali, I am not completely dense to what is said or goes on around me, though I will be the first to admit I am an idiot when it comes to certain situations." He gestured at both her and then Ashley, who was still in blissful unconsciousness and therefore somehow missing the most awkward conversation Tali had experienced since her father had sat her down four years ago to give her 'the talk'.

"I've not really had any romantic experience before, at 14 I was an orphaned survivor of a massacre that instigated the largest war of our time, at 16 I had joined the Marines. Then of course there was Elysium..." Shepard paused as he seemed drawn back to the events, the mixture of emotions that ravaged his face showing the side of the man that few probably ever saw, which made Tali even prouder that he had felt comfortable enough with her to not hide those emotions.

"Shepard..." Her attempt to speak, though what she was going to say was still uncertain in her mind as she started, was stopped when Shepard raised his hand.

"I can't think of anyone, including my old team back in N7, that I would have with me chasing Saren than you and the others Tali'zorah. Each and everyone of you inspire me to go that bit further, but also to hold myself to the standard that you all hold me to. Despite my own feelings, I cannot risk breaking the team apart due to disagreements or due to me making a choice, not when doing so could mean risking losing any of you." Whilst Shepard probably meant any of the crew with his last statement, it was also clear he wasn't outright rejecting her affections either.

Rather than say anything and risk saying exactly the wrong thing or ramble as she usually did, Tali decided to be a little bolder and stepped up, arms wrapping around him gently as he tensed slightly. A moment later though he returned the hug with a firmness that had Tali's slowly clearing mind doing somersaults. However, she knew enough not to try something at this point, feeling slightly ashamed of her jealousy of Ashley and Seratha given how awkward it had obviously made Shepard.

"Shepard, I know I can't ever start to understand what your past has done to you, and I won't pry into your past like others might try. But I just want you to know two things before Ashley wakes up. Firstly I want you to know that you are the best person I have had the chance to serve under, and I speak for the others as well when I say that we would follow you to hell if you wanted us to, just as you have shown that you would do the same for us." Reaching behind her with her free arm, Tali locked hands with Shepard's hand that was encircling her, another sign of closeness that in Quarian society was usually reserved for couples, though she kept telling herself it was merely meant to provide that additional bit of comfort for him.

"And don't think that you are in this alone Shepard, you have certainly helped me and the other Quarians when it would have been easy for you to ignore us and keep closer ties with your superiors and allies. So if you ever want to talk, reminisce or just have someone to scream at until the anger goes away..." She didn't quite go as far as to say she would be waiting, as that would imply that she expected such a thing to happen, something that she understood was seen as a weakness in human society from the vid-posts she had watched growing up, but it was obviously understood by the slight smile that appeared on Shepard's face.

Deciding to end the conversation on a higher note, before she staggered back to her bed for another couple of hours sleep, Tali released his hand and exaggeratedly grasped the front of her helmet.

"Could you wait a couple of hours until this Boshtet of a headache goes away?" Even as Shepard laughed, Tali felt her heart speed up a little as he still looked concerned about her despite the joke.

"I am fine Shepard, just need a couple of hours more sleep and then I can be properly embarrassed about all of this." As his smile dropped a little, she raised her hand and wagged her finger at him in the same manner she sometimes used with Wrex when he went a little too far.

"Don't even try and apologise, you have nothing to say sorry for. You aren't the one acting like a little Quarian girl the first time she meets an Admiral. So, for now I will step back a little to give you your space Shepard, and I expect you to tell me if I am too forward in future for your liking." Gods, if she wasn't only half awake and not thinking straight there was no way she would have been this forward, but alcohol and tiredness do wonderful things to a person's character. It was too late to back up now, in for a credit, in for a chit as her father used to say.

"But I like you Shepard, and I hope that despite my... differences you don't dislike me. So if at some stage you do decide you want a bit more of a relationship, just keep in mind that Williams isn't the only one interested..." With that said Tali removed herself from the hug and walked to the door, doing her best not to run as fast as she could to her little cubby hole in engineering and hide until it all went away.

Just as the door opened Shepard spoke again, though rather than chastise her for her forwardness or shoot her down, he merely said two simple words that managed to calm her nerves that little bit from fraught to the queasy stomach feeling.

"Tali, thanks." And then the door shut between them and Tali let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding.

Little did she know that a few moments after the doors had closed and she had headed for the elevator as fast as she could, Shepard turned to the sleeping figure in his bed with a bemused look on his face.

"Anything else you wish to add to that Chief? Or should I just let you get out of here before the rumour mill gets any worse?" As Ashley's eyes opened and she tried to pull off her best innocent impression, Shepard could tell he was far from finished being uncomfortable...

*Line Break*

As she ducked into a shady alleyway off the wards, she could only hope the communication chit she had planted would work, it was triggered to activate when he next accessed a terminal and there was a 99.987% chance that her target would do so before it lost power after all. But as she ducked behind a crate, the pair of rough looking Turians who had been chasing her sprinting past the alley entrance a moment later, she couldn't help but wonder what would happen to her if it didn't work...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi guys, what did you think? Good, bad, ugly?
> 
> Quick thing I want to clarify/ask regarding ships in ME. Anyone know the costs associated with any of them? The only reference I have is Admiral Mikhailovich saying that a heavy cruiser is "Billions of credits."
> 
> With this in mind and the fact that I want Shepard to be a little more comprehensive in his preparations against Saren (After all, the Normandy vs Sovereign does not a good match up make), the list of prices/construction costs for basic ships is detailed below, which will vary for individual ships based on design, age etc...
> 
> Transport (Tiny) (Ontario sized)- 5-10 million new
> 
> Transport (Small)- 20-30 million new
> 
> Transport (Large)- 70-80 million new
> 
> Frigate- 100-250 million new
> 
> Cruiser- 1-2 and a half billion new
> 
> Heavy Cruiser/Normandy- 3-7 billion new
> 
> Dreadnought class- ?
> 
> Sound relatively reasonable? Of course this does not include crews, ammo etc...
> 
> Anyways, a ShepardxTali moment at the end there with both of them building enough courage to open up a little more to each other. Might seem a little OC on Tali's behalf but it's no small wonder what alcohol and lack of sleep can do for you, and it's not like she has been subtle up until now...
> 
> The ending is in there to add an OC of mine, one that I think is fairly unique if you ignore the later Reaper tech. That is all I am saying for now, let me know if you have any thoughts/guesses based on that.


	8. I am no THING!

After Ashley had straightened herself up, the soldier trying her best not to be as embarrassed as Tali had been whilst they discussed what she had 'slept' through, she had left after another discussion that taxed Shepard's rather limited emotional capacity to its limit. Whilst she might have fooled Tali, Shepard had seen her stiffen as he entered the room and lie far too still during the pair's talk for her to still be slumbering. Ashley had been a lot less expressive as they discussed things about the three of them than Tali had, but still it had been an enlightening talk to say the least.

Her jealousy was a lot less noticeable than it had been previously, and Shepard wondered whether there was something he was missing for that to be the case. But he knew when to let things go, so after they had finished and Ashley had promised to talk with Tali about what had happened she had saluted and left in short order.

Feeling emotionally tired and drained, which was not a good thing as it was only breakfast, Shepard sat down to access his personal terminal. He thought he might as well check for any updates or requests before going and getting showered and changed for the day, having spent the night in the med-bay rather than risk any more rumours about him and the two women in his room. As he touched the terminal to log in there was a sudden jolt and his armour locked in place, the hydraulics preventing him from moving no matter how hard he tried. Thinking it was an armour problem, though catastrophic hydraulics failure hadn't been something he had heard of before now, Shepard was about to call out to his V.I to contact Joker when his terminal screen changed to that of a masked Salarian.

"Please don't panic Spectre Shepard, I do not mean you any harm, the lockdown will only last a minute and 13 seconds." The faceplate of the mask was pitch black and suddenly Shepard remembered where he had seen it from.

"You were the Salarian I bumped into at the party..." Though he was a little wary at the method of communication being used, Shepard didn't call out to the V.I quite yet.

If the Salarian had wanted to hurt him then given the woman's obvious technological skills there were far more effective ways of doing so without needing this little face to face. The Salarian nodded quickly only to shift back against the wall she was stood against and crouch down, speaking quietly as she continued.

"Correct observation, what I expect from Spectre status operative, but time to discuss that later. I know you don't trust me, no reason to of course, but I need your help Spectre if I am to remain ahead of those who... dislike me. Will send coordinates of current safe area but cannot stay long, hope you are as noble as reports make out..." Interested was one way of putting it as the Salarian disappeared and his armour resumed normality, the lack of information made him a little nervous, but his white knight complex kicked in before he could properly assess the risks.

Eyeing the coordinates on his omni-tool, which translated them into an address without any need of prompting, Shepard saw he needed to head to the Wards and quickly if he were to meet his newest mystery acquaintance. Striding out of his room, Shepard saw Wrex, Liara, Kaidan and Ashley all sat down eating, Ashley's blush making it clear that she was the subject of conversation. Wrex caught his eye and Shepard didn't even need to say anything, the Krogan standing as Shepard headed to the elevator.

"Gear up, Shepard looks like we are about to go on another fun run. I will try not to kill everything before you all get there" Wrex's words brought a smile to John's face as he pressed the button for the elevator, the warlord didn't view dangerous and treacherous missions as a problem the same way other people did. The elevator doors opened even as Wrex stepped up beside him, shotgun at the ready and grin on his face, the others scrambling for their basic equipment and could catch up with them.

"So, who are we going to kill today Shepard?"

The safe area turned out to be in a warehouse in the lower wards and while it didn't seem to be a trap as of yet, once he and Wrex had been forced to deal with a set of rather shady Eclipse Mercenaries who had tried to stop them from approaching, they hadn't been short of enemies to fight. Not that Wrex minded, the Krogan humming some kind of battle march whilst blasting mercs with his shotgun in a manner that Shepard could only describe as ecstatic.

Whoever this Salarian girl was, she was important enough to someone for them to have at least 3 dozen men after her, which sparked Shepard's interest even further given the amount of effort it would have taken to assemble such a force without alerting C-Sec. But as the two of them continued forwards, Wrex doing most the killing and Shepard happy to let him whilst he coordinated C-Sec, the rest of his strike force and the Quarians who were all now following up behind them, Shepard noticed the enemy numbers rapidly dwindle to nothing once more.

Whether this was due to the fact he and Wrex had killed them all, or they had pulled back on the orders of whoever was in charge Shepard didn't know, all he cared was that they were nearly to the back of the warehouse where the coordinates had led them to. Given the large number of vantage points that were created by the piled crates as well as the restrictions to view such a setup led to, the idea this could be a trap suddenly came back to Shepard and given Wrex's more cautious state even gave the Krogan pause.

There was a sudden movement in front of them from behind one of the larger crates made them both stiffen, Shepard calling out even as he and Wrex moved into cover.

"Come out back there, this is Spectre Shepard, and if you throw down your weapons no harm will come to you." There was a moment's pause before the now familiar asked face of the Salarian appeared, coming out with hands raised but with a relaxed stance.

"Good to meet properly Spectre, thank you for coming so promptly, would have had to do something distasteful to survive otherwise. Even then, only 70 percent success chance generous compared to you and your war master colleagues actions." Wrex looked a little disgruntled for the first time as he shifted uncomfortably before speaking.

"If you had told me we were saving a frog, I wouldn't have been anywhere near as happy killing all of these useless mercs to save her. She better know something useful Shepard or I am going to need to kill a lot more things by the end of the day." The Salarian seemed unsurprised with Wrex's attitude and bowed quickly in his direction.

"Dislike understandable given the 'thanks' our race gave yours for helping to defeat the Rachni, know it won't help but I disagree with genophage entirely, scientifically much cleaner and less hate inspiring ways for stopping Krogan population explosion after Rachni wars. But can be hated for that later, have useful information for you regarding Saren's allies Shepard but first must deal with enemies who have surrounded us, seven class one Eclipse Mercenaries and three class Two assault specialists." At the pronouncement of so many enemies Shepard suddenly looked up, a call from a Salarian in Eclipse armour on top of one of the sets of crates proving the girl right.

"Damn thing ruined the surprise but no matter, stand down Spectre and we all walk away in one piece, though in her case that won't remain that way for long..." Obviously the woman's continued escape and evasion from him annoyed the mercenary leader more than Shepard killing all his men did, an unsurprising if disgusting sign that he didn't care about the lives of his men at all.

"Well, if saving one frog allows me to kill another and his other lackies I can live with that Shepard..." With Wrex's approval, Shepard shook his head and readied his pistol.

"Sorry, but the lady stays with us..." Remarkably similar to Therum, though a Salarian was a lot less terrifying than that Krogan had been.

"Lady? You don't even know what that thing..." That was as far as the Salarian got before suddenly his arms started moving on their own, bringing his assault rifle to point at his skull despite his panicked cries and discharging half a dozen rounds from inside his kinetic barriers.

"Don't call me a thing!" The Salarian woman's laboured but scathing statement made it clear that she had been responsible for the mercenary's assisted suicide, though the how was something Shepard was going to have to work out later as the remaining mercenaries opened fire...

Between the three of them and the arrival of the others the remaining mercs were dealt with in short order, two of the non Eclipse mercs surrendering when they realised the game was up, C-Sec was dealing with them as part of 'a joint anti smuggling operation' that Palin had asked to claim the incident as both to save face and to cover up Shepard's involvement. Whilst Shepard didn't mind the press overly much, Emily Wong seeming to be exclusively assigned to cover his stories now and they had a healthy working relationship, it wasn't for his sake that the incident had been smothered.

His newest guest was currently in the meeting room with him, having requested privacy whilst they discussed her situation. Given what the woman had done to her fellow Salarian, Shepard imagined that if she had wanted to hurt him she could have done so with or without anyone except Wrex present. And given the Warlord was still torn between angry for her stealing his 'Frog splatting' and amusement for how she had done it, he was probably best left to brood for a while.

"So, as much as I would like to ask some other questions, I think it would be best if we started with your name Ms..." The Salarian seemed to realise that she hadn't in fact told him and waved her hands apologetically in front of her.

"Apologies Shepard, not used to social interactions outside of the extranet, very different in real life. Linron Dezoro, hope rescuing me did not inconvenience you Shepard, but glad you chose to help." At this point the now named Linron paused and seemed to consider something for a moment before wringing her hands together .

"Read all reports on your work, your character is reason why I approached you rather than just hand self into C-Sec, though given work against Geth can only be 89% sure that you will not react badly." That wasn't a good sign Shepard thought, though he did wonder what Linron was talking about that would elicit such a reaction from him.

That question was answered a moment later when Linron reached up and with a couple of popped seals removed her mask, her face typically Salarian, the parts of it that weren't metallic and obviously grafted cybernetics anyway. Given the Citadel's almost zealous hatred of all thing cybernetic and A.I. related, Linron's unwillingness to go to them was suddenly a lot more understandable, along with her fear that he would react badly. Doing his best not to let the instilled taboo about cybernetic augmentation to affect his judgement, Shepard decided to be the better man and get details first and judge later.

"I see now what you meant Linron. Before I make any judgements, perhaps you can tell me how you came to gain your implants?" Judging by the shocked smile that came to Linron's face she had obviously been expecting a much worse reaction...

*Line Break*

An hour later and Shepard had allowed Linron to use his quarters for cleaning herself and then to sleep, given that she had told him that most of her external skin had been replaced with cybernetics risking the women's showers would definitely have given the game away. His initial thought had been to hand her over to the Council, especially when she revealed that the ones who had done this to her were still out there, presumably also the ones who hired the mercenaries. Whilst the Council took a dim view on cybernetic experimentation Shepard was sure that forced enhancements were not something she would be punished for, especially given that supposedly she had been a child when the experiments started.

But having seen Linron's skills as a hacker, both in freezing his armour during their initial talk and taking control of the other Salarian's armour to make him shoot himself, Shepard knew that such skills would definitely be very helpful in pursuing Saren and his Geth allies. Linron had revealed that taking control of someone's armour was very draining for her to do from a distance, but if she could come into contact with them it was much simpler and easier.

Which made her almost the perfect Anti-Krogan fighter, something he knew would annoy Wrex even more if he ever told him about it. The ability, complex and power intensive as it was, of being able to freeze a charging Krogan and force him to overcome his own armour servos, along with her cybernetics giving her quite high durability and strength to withstand the initial charge was a dangerous close quarters combination.

But even outside of combat, which is where Shepard would prefer to keep her given that she had no real combat training other than what she had improvised after escaping her confinement, Linron was already proving to be a boon. Shepard didn't quite understand how it worked and wasn't even sure if he did want to know, but Linron could directly interface with electronic equipment as opposed to interacting with it via omni-tool or a screen, meaning that her ability to process and analyse data far outstripped anyone else on the Normandy.

Which was how she had attained the information she had hoped to trade for letting her on his team, Linron having spent sometime hacking and snooping through the extranet for information relating to Saren. Whilst she had come up short on the Ex-Spectre, she had found information on Benezia going to Noveria to visit what must be one of her companies that she owned or at least had a large amount of control over. Given that the docking information was 3 days old Shepard knew there was little time to waste.

"Waters, send out an alert to the crew, I want them back on ship in 6 hours and ready for flight." Waters had been one of the few that had volunteered for the skeleton crew whilst the others had taken the chance to have some leave, the young woman a self admitted workaholic who actually enjoyed analysing and summarising the results the scanners and Shepard's ground team had recovered.

"Of course Commander, I will have the recall sent out at once. What is our destination? Just so that when Joker inevitably asks I do not have to disturb you again..." John had been planning on contacting the pilot personally, but as Waters was offering...

"Noveria..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I can see the reviews now 'why did you ruin a good story with such an OP OC?' Two reasons, primarily because Salarians really don't get anything close to the same screen time as races like the Asari, and also because whilst powerful it is not as useful as it seems at first. Just like Jack can't actually just bulldoze her way through YMIR's Linron will not be hacking everyone's armour whenever she pleases. It is very energy intensive and tires her out considerably at a distance, and against anything but a Krogan it will be easier to engage at range rather than too charge in. Also, it does give the crew a dedicated hacker/information collector which is something that is rather lacking until Kasumi turns up or Liara goes Shadow Broker.
> 
> Come on, you all know you love imagining Wrex's face when he finds out that 'the frog' is probably his worst opponent in a close quarters combat scenario...


	9. Corruption and Rent-a-cops

"Hmm, Noveria, been a while. Can't say I have missed this place. Never have I seen such a place of bureaucratic backstabbery and corruption, at least on Omega when someone tried to kill me I don't have to fill out paperwork afterwards." Wrex's, well Shepard wasn't sure whether it was reminiscing or advising, set a rather tense mood as the Normandy finished docking at the designated landing bay near the main Noveria building complex.

"Yes, it's quite the place. Even my sister ended up moving her company from Noveria, supposedly the lack of external legal authority wasn't worth the amount of work you had to put into bribing enough of the right people, only for other companies to sabotage or outbid you." Dahlia also added her two cents, Shepard bringing the 2 mercenary veterans with him on his initial foray onto Noveria, as both of them had experience with the planet and it's workings that the rest of his crew didn't have.

"I don't think you could make the place sound any less charming if you tried... What do you think their opinion on Spectres is?" Wrex chuckled at this and gestured with his head towards the half a dozen heavily armed security members stood nervously waiting for them at the exit of the hangar they had arrived in.

"From what I remember the only people Noverian's hate more than spectres are pirates, both are equally as likely to disrupt the day to day corruption of the place without any inclination to fill in any paperwork, though at least Spectres tend to leave with only a small amount of death and destruction in their wake..." So not a warm welcome then, not that Shepard was really expecting one given the rather terse passage to docking Joker had to endure.

As they approached one of the guards stepped forward, obviously in charge as she barked out a terse order, something that made Wrex growl given the obvious superior tone.

"That's far enough!"

"Easy there big guy, we don't want to cause any trouble..." As the lead guard asked for the three of them to identify themselves, Wrex's muttered response brought a smile to Shepard's face.

"Speak for yourself Shepard... I'm itching for that kind of trouble." Doing his best to maintain his professional composure as the lead guard flinched at Wrex's Joking barb, Shepard gestured to the guards.

"No offence, but this many guards seems more like a hit than a security check, who are you guys?" The woman to the left of the lead guard came out with the rather cliched line about being the law, which gave no useful information whatsoever, but the lead guard introduced herself as Captain Matsuo from Elanus Risk Control Services.

"I am Commander Shepard of the Council Spectres... Perhaps you have heard of me?" Obviously more than a couple had, looking even more nervous as the snappy woman made it clear to Matsuo quite how little she believed his identity.

"We will need to verify that of course, and even so it is not permitted for people to carry weapons on Noveria, Stirling here will secure your weapons..." If this didn't smell fishy before it did now, though John felt that Dahlia and Wrex put the point across about their feelings regarding that idea as both drew weapons and prepared their biotics.

"Considering I am here to apprehend a dangerous individual as well as search for homicidal Geth that may be accompanying her... I think our weapons will stay where they are, as I doubt that usual rules apply to Spectres." Wrex chuckled, probably because he was glad John hadn't been as diplomatic as he probably could, though a voice came over a broadcasting system in the area before things could really kick off.

"Captain Matsuo, stand down, his identity has been confirmed and he is right. Spectres, and their crews, are permitted to carry weapons here." Crisis averted, or at least it was for the moment, Wrex was definitely going to be riled up now he hadn't got the fight he was hoping for.

With their arrival cleared and permission for them to carry weapons on station approved, Shepard got the rest of his strike group out in force, though news seemed to travel faster than he could as the entire station seemed to know who and what he was by the time he made it up to the main body of the station.

"Shepard, could I have a moment?" Liara was nervous, the tone of her voice and body language as she made the request practically screamed as such, though given the Administrator's assistant had just confirmed Linron's data that Benezia was on the planet such nerves were understandable.

"Of course. Everyone, go and gather some Intel on what is at this peak 15, we will be along in a moment." There wasn't any disagreement with this, though neither Tali or Ashley really moved very far away.

"I imagine you want to talk Shepard, about Ben... About my mother." Shepard realised what she was actually saying a moment later, about whether he trusted her to actually work with him against Benezia given she was her daughter.

"No, I don't think we need to. Maybe if we had come here straight after rescuing you on Therum than I would have had concerns, but you are part of my crew and have proven yourself worthy of my trust Liara." Liara seemed very surprised by that, before her smile widened and she nodded gratefully.

"Thank you Shepard, that means a lot to me." Despite her smile John could sense some uncertainty still there, and gestured towards a nearby bench.

"However, just because I don't need to talk to you about your loyalty doesn't mean I don't have time for my crew, especially given our mission here." Liara nodded her acceptance at his offer, waiting until they were sat down before her face morphed into a frown.

"Amongst my people there is a saying, 'Only a child never contradicts her mother'. What my mother did is wrong, I know that, and I am determined to stop her from harming more innocents. Whilst I am glad that you did not insist I stay on the ship, as this will allow me to try and talk her out of this madness, I cannot help but be concerned. What if I cannot persuade her? If I have to choose between losing her and losing you or one of the others due to my inability to act?" It was a surprisingly mature fear from the sometimes naïve Asari, which reminded John that despite her 'young' age, Liara was almost four times older than he was.

"Liara, we will do everything in our power to avoid that happening, at this point Benezia is far more useful to us alive. And if you can get through to her, I promise I will do everything I can to help protect her from the Council, though if she does resist we will be putting her down hard." It was probably the nicest he could be, given Benezia was working with a terrorist who had the aim of aiding the Reapers wipe out the galaxy, but given the way Liara's face lit up before she engulfed him in a spontaneous hug it seemed to have been the right thing to do.

"Shepard... John, every time I think that you have reached the limits of my surprise, you always go that one step further..." The young Asari lingered in the hug for a moment longer than John probably thought was necessary, until a rather irritated cough from Ashley caused them to disengage, both Ashley and Tali stood with arms folded that promised a couple of awkward conversations later.

"Are you done Commander?" Yes, Tali's tone definitely wasn't promising, though given Ashley's already vocalised concerns regarding the young blue skinned alien he had expected this type of friction at some point.

"Yes, I think you are okay now, right Liara?" The twin glares from the other girls were obviously making Liara slightly nervous, but she nodded regardless and stepped away with a smile that could only be called genuine.

"O-of course Shepard, thank you for helping me..." Liara paused for a moment before pulling another attempt at an alliance salute.

"Now Commander, where do you want me?" Doing his best to ignore the possible euphemism in Liara's words, Shepard did his best to pull off a relaxed smile before pointing further into the port.

"Let's see what the others have found, and then we can decide our next move..."

[]{}#%^*+

Shepard had thought Wrex and Dahlia had been exaggerating when they spoke of the depths of corruption in the Noverian main port, but as he stood across from the pair of security guards at the exit of the elevator they had used to gain access to the Synthetic Insights offices, Shepard was starting to wonder whether they had in fact been sugar coating it. Thankfully it was only Linron and Garrus with him, the others doing their best to dig up every dark secret and skeleton in Port Hanshan's closets, both to earn some more credits and to keep whatever tails they had been assigned busy.

"Freeze, Hanshan security, this office is under investigation and sealed to the public." The woman sounded confident enough on the surface, but if it had been true that they were investigating legally they would have just sealed the elevator off entirely...

"And I am a Council Spectre, so if there really is anything illegal going on in these offices I would be highly suited to the task of finding it wouldn't you say?" This whole mess with Anoleis was already slowing them down in the pursuit of Benezia, Shepard couldn't afford to try treading lightly if they were actually going to catch up with the matriarch.

"T-true, but our orders are that no one is to enter until the offices have been searched..." The confidence had faded from her voice slightly, hand going towards her pistol holster in an obvious sign of nerves, meaning if he didn't act now things could get very ugly.

Shifting forwards with a speed that obviously surprised both of them, Shepard knocked the assault rifle from the Turian guard's grip with one hand whilst the other grabbed the woman's hand as she tried to bring her pistol up, overpowering her easily enough to bring the barrel of the gun to the base of her jawline. Garrus had followed him up with practiced ease, assault rifle pointed firmly at the other Turian's head whilst Linron started hacking the office systems, leaving him with a now terrified guard frozen in his grip.

"Anoleis has you shaking this place down to try and find whatever it is Qui'in has on him..." It wasn't a question, but she nodded slowly regardless, doing her best not to make any potentially hostile moves. "Does Captain Matsuo know what you're doing here?" There was a warning hiss from the Turian but the woman ignored him and shook her head.

"No, Anoleis contacted the Sergeant directly, wanted the problem solving before the off worlders get involved..." The Turian seemed to think that was far enough, his his turning into a warning despite the gun pointed at his head.

"Eris, enough! Sergeant Sterling will be pissed enough as it is..." The newly named Eris gave a slight roll of her eyes that made Shepard smile despite the situation, gesturing slowly with her free hand towards the gun at her throat.

"You just saw what Shepard just pulled off, he could have downed us both without even drawing his weapon or using his biotics, one of his team didn't even bother getting combat ready. Shepard, if you remove the gun I won't do anything I swear, though I cannot say the same for slag face over there..." The Turian snarled a cry, obviously intended as a warning to the other guards who were meant to be searching the place, the noise ending with a heavy crashing thud as Garrus battered him in the face with his rifle stock.

"What was that?" The call from further inside the offices meant that things were probably about to get loud, and despite his Spectre status Shepard didn't particularly want to have to explain half a dozen dead security officers to captain Matsuo, so he had to make a snap decision regarding his unintended hostage.

"Get down, stay behind me and don't make me regret this..." Eris nodded her head, but Shepard was slightly surprised as she refused her pistol back when he offered it to her.

"I'd prefer not making you any more paranoid than you seem to be already Spectre, and given how fast you took us down I doubt I will even need to use it." A good point, which Shepard appreciated even as Linron took up position behind one of the pillars that interspaced the office floor, downing the first ERCS guard that moved round to investigate with a single punch.

"Shepard, four remaining hostiles closing on our position, optimal conditions to deal with them as they are only basically armed and uncoordinated. Chances of success highly likely without mitigating factors..." Linron's look was pointed even from behind her mask, Eris not even looking offended as Shepard lifted a Salarian that tried to take up position behind a set of desks, the following throw certainly incapacitating if not actually injuring the guard enough to take him out of the fight.

"Don't look at me, between pissing you guys and Captain Matsuo off or having to deal with Stirling when she gets back with the 'help' she promised, I know which side in this fight I am picking. Though I imagine Matsuo is still going to fire me either way..." Linron's sabotage caught both remaining guards even as they unleashed their best attempt at a hail of bullets, leaving both of them unshielded and unarmed as Shepard and Garrus charged up to them, both of them going down in less than 10 seconds from the flurry of punishing blows the pair unleashed.

"So Captain Matsuo really doesn't know what you are up to? Seems unwise to upset your superior officer and commander with such activities..." Linron's comment made Eris chuckle, gesturing around at the now unconscious guards with a shrug.

"You think that Matsuo knows everything that happens on this station? Sterling and Anoleis have her buried in meetings and paperwork, they aren't stupid you know." That was about to be tested, but as much as he wanted to see the look on Sterling's face when she finally turned up, the data he needed to collect for Qui'in was far more important.

"Linron, Qui'in told us where the data he wanted is, head up to the office and scan for it. Garrus and I will search for anything that might be worth salvaging... Eris!" The barking of her name caused the ERCS guard to jump to attention unconsciously, though she didn't seem too put off by it as she waited patiently for his orders.

"I want your colleagues disarmed and moved out of the way, if Sterling does arrive before we finish downloading the data then we might have something of a gunfight and I do not need them getting caught in the crossfire. Also, try and contact Matsuo, tell her what is happening and maybe she can get here before her subordinate does." Eris nodded her head, then winced a moment later.

"Will do my best commander, but Sergeant is already on her way, one of the others must have gotten a communication off to her before you knocked them out. I will ignore her but it won't be long before she realises something is wrong." Shepard nodded but wasn't overly concerned, compared to the Geth and Krogan that they had faced down thus far in pursuit of Saren, these security chumps were really nothing to be worried about.

"Well move the others into the ground floor office and then hunker down Eris, this will not end peacefully and it's best if you are not caught in the crossfire." The fact that she was a liability in terms of skill and equipment when compared to the others wasn't something Shepard wanted to mention, after all he had only seen her in action once and he could hardly be considered an 'average' opponent, but for now it was better for everyone if she stayed out of sight.

"Shepard, found several tech upgrades in the 'appropriated equipment' bags the guards were using along with almost 70,000 credits and some salvage that I am sure that Tali and the others will love. Given Qui'in said he was only interested in the data I am sure he will prefer they go with us rather than these idiots. Moving to find a sniping position before our guests arrive." It was surprising how prepared Garrus was to bend the rules of legality given his profession, but then again the Turian had always been a bit of dark horse even before Shepard rolled up.

The pair of them did not have to wait long, Linron downloading and encrypting the data they needed just as the elevator pinged open. Sergeant Stirling looked sickly confident as she strode forwards, backed up by half a dozen other ERCS guards, who all raised their guns as he shifted out from behind the pillar he had been waiting behind.

"How odd, I wonder what you are doing illegally breaking into private property Shepard..." Her smug tone was obviously meant to aggravate him, but Shepard had dealt with better jabs than that at some of the pubs he visited whilst off duty.

"That's the strange thing, you see being a Spectre there aren't really all that many uses of that word that still apply to me, though you and your fellow corrupt minions don't really have that leg to stand on..." He was probably being a little cocky, given he hadn't even bother to draw his pistol, but the infuriated look on Sterling's face was worth it.

"Anoleis would have you kicked off world for what you have done, but I won't. Do you know what we did to cop killers on my world?" Shepard could almost hear Garrus grinding his teeth as he bit back a shouted response, so he decided to do it for him, cloaking himself in biotic so as he did so.

"Do you know what we do to corrupt cops on mine?" Whatever reply Sterling might have wanted to give him was cut off by his throw, sending her flying back into another guard and the pair of them tumbling whilst the others opened fire.

"Damn straight Shepard!" Garrus' amused cry was followed up by an overload grenade and a concussion round in close proximity, downing two more of the guards in the time it took for Shepard's barrier to fall, slipping back into cover even as Sterling forced herself off her now unconscious comrade, features set in a snarl even as she hefted her shotgun.

"Arrogant bastard, you will pay for this, Anoleis will bury you!" Shepard chuckled as he got the affirmative signal from Linron, reactivating his barrier before stepping out once more, lifting one of the two remaining guards.

His barrier absorbed the first shotgun round from Sterling even as he corked another throw in her direction, Sterling rolling under the ability but not avoiding Garrus' second overload/concussion shot combination, stumbling to her feet even as John finished covering the distance between them. His haymaker caught her full in her unprotected cheek, reminding Shepard of why it was a good idea to always wear a helmet, Sterling's jaw audibly breaking as she careened backwards.

"Catch all of that Captain Matsuo?" Shepard waved to the office security camera nearest to him, which Linron had hacked into and streamed the footage over her call to captain Matsuo, his comment making the last standing guard pale before dropping his gun and putting his hands up.

"Got it Spectre, I am on my way over now, as much as I want to arrest Anoleis for this right now I imagine that whatever reason you were in synthetic insights has a similar goal in mind. So I will secure my soon to be ex-subordinates instead, I promise there won't be any more trouble from us, just let me know when the fireworks are going to start." Despite her obvious stress, Shepard was impressed at her professionalism, not many commanders would take such mutiny so well.

Though given how easily they had dispatched the ERCS guards here, perhaps she was instead focussing on possible changes to their hiring practices on Noveria, and the potential damage such footage could cause Elanus if it were to leak. Whilst it was a massive company and would survive the negative press such a video would generate, the loss in confidence that such a walkover would provide was worth considering financially.

"Linron, make a copy of the footage and then destroy all traces of the original, then send it to Dahlia and see what she thinks it might be worth." Whilst the moral part of him protested, the logical side of him was firm in the belief that if enough companies realised how bad an idea trying to slow him down was, then they might actually learn to stay out of the way when he was working.

The fact that such a reputation would come with several large pay packets along the way was mere coincidence, such were the fortunes of war...

[]{}#%^*+=

"First you take out a dozen of my guards and expose them as corrupt, now you have a firefight with the damn Geth within shouting distance of the reception floor. If it weren't for the fact you didn't kill anyone, even when you were helping to arrest Anoleis, I would think you were determined to get me fired Shepard-san." Matsuo was taking the appearance of the Geth on Noveria much better than Shepard had anticipated, though given his habit of causing trouble wherever he went people probably just started to expect stuff like this from him now.

"I think at this point I have proved that if I wanted you fired then I would have already done so Captain, you are doing a pretty good job around here and besides, there needs to be something left of a command structure left here don't you think?" The reference to the loss of Parasini, Anoleis and three of her most senior officers made the woman grin a little wryly before nodding her head.

"And I am sure the board appreciates your 'diplomatic' approach to this whole affair Shepard-San, I'm sure that when Parasini-san told you that you can't bludgeon your way through bureaucracy she didn't mean for you to take it as a challenge..." Looking over to the corpse of one of the Geth destroyers, Matsuo then gestured to Eris, the relatively young guard having kept her job of only just thanks to Shepard's claim she had helped him out.

"Trooper Eris, I want you to get a team together and search the rest of the hangars, make sure there are no more surprises waiting for us. Commander Shepard, given the... Volatile nature of this incident I am sure that the executive board would be grateful for any insight or assistance your group can give in containing the situation. I know you wish to focus your efforts on peak 15 and Matriarch Benezia of course..." John cut her off politely and gestured to Kaidan.

"Kaidan, I want you, Dahlia and Linron to stay here, coordinate the marines and salvage groups to sweep the station. I assume your guards will accompany us to allow full access to every part of the station captain?" Matsuo nodded, though she probably didn't catch the small nod that Shepard gave at Kaidan's questioning glance, whilst their focus was going to be on the Geth and Benezia he was still a Spectre.

Just because corruption was normal on Noveria, and Matsuo was powerless to stop it, didn't mean he needed to ignore it. He wouldn't want his team's earlier information gathering to go to waste now would he?

"Thank you Commander, I appreciate the help even if most of the companies here might not. Now is there anything else you needed?" Looking round the hangar and finding only a single Mako that was in full working condition after the fight with the Geth, Shepard knew that it wouldn't fit the 6 of them even in the best case scenario, though that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Tali, Garrus, do you think the new model is ready for a test run?" Tali nodded eagerly but Garrus looked a little concerned.

"I hadn't quite finished with the last batch of calibrations Shepar..." A elbow to the gut from the excited Quarian next to him cut the Turian off from his favourite subject, Tali looking more excited than she had since admitting her feelings to him.

"It will be fine Shepard, at worst the aim might be off 0.3 centimetres over a half click, not exactly worth stopping a possible field test. Shall I contact Seratha and have her transport it over?" Looking over at Matsuo who shrugged before nodding confusedly, John grinned.

"Do it, if we land it outside then we can even show it off a little before we go hunting." Matsuo finally took the bait and spoke up.

"Show off what Shepard? And wouldn't it be better to just drive it from the Normandy through the service tunnels?" Gesturing that she should wait and see, Shepard didn't have to wait long before the sound of the new arrival pre empted a heavy crash from outside.

"Need to work on the braking system... Can't leave holes everywhere we go." Tali's muttering widened Shepard's smirk before the doors began opening to reveal the combined work of a small number of his engineers and several salvaged vehicles over the course of their missions.

"May I present the Combat Optimised Armoured Transport, or as the Geth will probably be terming it soon, the instrument of their destruction..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Noveria has always been a bit of a letdown for me, or at least port Hanshan was in terms of storyline. There was a painfully awkward attempt to muddy the waters in terms of ethical choices versus monetary gain, which would have been made far more viable with the use of rare/unique tech instead of money for Anoleis to try and get Shepard on side, or for a possible side plot between two corporations.
> 
> Instead we had Shepard vs rent-a-cops, which as I portrayed here is such a mismatch that this could probably have been done with any use of weapons, only abilities. So rather than a painfully easy massacre that Shepard walks out of without the slightest negative impact, we have Shepard and his team exposing Sterling's corruption and supporting Matsuo in maintaining control on Port Hanshan, something that should have been a much more important task given Anoleis' arrest and Sterling's mutiny.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed my version of things, and next time we get to see Shepard's New vehicle! Any ideas people want to put forward let me know!


	10. Peeking at Peak 15

"Garrus, the last armature is getting back up, enjoy. Wrex, concentrate fire on that rocket trooper, the normal troopers are barely going to do anything but scratch the paint work even if they do get through the shields." Turning sharply, in order to avoid fire from said rocket trooper, Shepard braced with the brakes as Garrus let rip with the COATs twin 155mm cannons, the recoil causing them to roll back a few metres before coming to a stop as the armature was blown backwards and in several different directions by the explosive impact of the mass effect rounds.

The COAT was the pet project of several members of the Normandy crew along with the Quarians from the  _Ontario_ , Garrus and Tali having approached him with the idea shortly after his discussion with the Quarian girl about the Ontario. What they proposed was effectively the rugged love-child of the M29 Grizzly and the Mako as a second vehicle for his strike force to use, heavier and better equipped than the Mako but still a more capable off roader and faster than the Grizzly. It wouldn't useful for away missions on planets with difficult terrain or swamp like conditions, but in less hazardous conditions against opponents such as the Geth it was a considerable boon.

"Bullseye!" Even as Garrus was gloating over his kill, Wrex was blasting away with the twin mounted machine guns that were on a small independent turret on top of the main turret, the Krogan grinning as he gunned down every Geth who tried to approach them.

"That's the last of the tin cans here Shepard, we can tell what happened to the ERCS units that were sent to try and reinforce the target, given the distance to the target this won't be the last of them." The Krogan's remark made Shepard a little happier about the situation, even if there were more of them ahead, as long as they destroyed them as they went there was no chance of being attacked from behind.

"Confirmed Shepard, sensors aren't picking up any more activity in the area. We can try and see if there are any survivors in the wreckage..." It was clear even as Tali suggested it that she didn't believe they would find anyone.

Despite what had been alluded to, Anoleis had actually sent three ERCS squads to try and find out what had been going on at Peak 15 about four hours prior to their arrival, which was why the hangar had been so empty when Shepard had arrived. Obviously the Geth had been using jammers when they finally dealt with the encroaching security forces, as Captain Matsuo had merely assumed that they had been caught up in whatever had been going on at Peak 15 and were struggling with the storm to get communications back online.

"Relay the coordinates back to the  _Ontario_ , they can clean up the Geth and check for survivors once we move on, how are Kaidan and the others doing?" It turned out that the Geth they had defeated in the hangar hadn't been the only units stationed at Port Hanshan, though with Linron's data analysis capabilities and Kaidan's strategic awareness they had been able to identify and isolate the three main clusters from the main body of the Port before closing in to deal with them.

"Kaidan's last report confirmed over 80 destroyed Geth and the deactivation of several bombs remotely activated around the Port, though even our marines have two dead and three seriously injured, the ERCS casualty rate is in the region of 40% even with our help. Goddess only knows how badly things would have ended without us being there." Shepard didn't need to imagine what Liara was implying, the reports of colonies disappearing overnight without any off-planet contacts being registered suddenly sounded a lot more like how Port Hanshan would have been whenever Benezia was done with her business...

Yet the Geth in the hangar hadn't activated the other Geth around the Port, which didn't make sense if you were trying to stop someone from accessing Peak 15, as the sheer destruction and chaos 80 odd Geth could bring would definitely distract someone from making the trip for a significant amount of time as a minimum. Filing the thought away for now as he couldn't make any further guesses without grasping at straws, Shepard focussed on the road ahead once more.

"Ash, how far are we from Peak 15?" Given the larger internal space of the COAT, there was space for five combat stations that could be used to take control of different sections of the COAT's operations if there was crew available to do so.

Garrus and Wrex had the main and secondary weapons stations, Liara had communications, leaving Tali and Ashley with the sensors and navigation functions respectively. Given the tone of Ashley's voice as she responded to his question, she would definitely be trying harder to get one of the guns if they anticipated trouble on the way back.

"As the crow flies about three miles, but given the nature of this road more like four, four and a half? There are at least a dozen more locations along this route where the Geth could have ambushes set up, though the nature of this frozen hell hole means that if they want to use heavy armaments they aren't going to be able to be subtle about it." That was true, especially given the large number of terrain warnings that Tali was now screening for him that lit up his display, different colours highlighting suitability of the area around them for the COAT to use if he needed to leave the roadway.

Whilst the COAT was heavier than the Geth Walkers it also spread its weight more effectively across the ground, meaning that the walkers would likewise be restricted to the roadway rather than the cliffs and ravines they would soon be traversing through as he had originally feared. His driving was interrupted, along with his musings, a moment later when Tali gave a sound of surprise.

"Sensors picking up possible life signs Shepard, to the North East, could be survivors." That was leading away from the ambush site, but it was also away from Peak 15 which might be why the Geth hadn't pursued any survivors, it wasn't as if they could walk back to the main station in this storm.

It also meant that they couldn't use the COAT, as the ground would be to unstable and it would be far too easy for them to get stuck.

"How far?" He wouldn't leave potential survivors if he could avoid it, but if it was a trap then if it was beyond the easy covering distance of the COAT's guns it was a risk that he could not afford with whatever was being hidden at Peak 15.

"About 300 metres that way Shepard, it looks like three or four signatures, but they are somewhat distorted by the weather..." And if they had survived this long in these conditions, then they had probably found cover which wouldn't help with the scans either.

"Wrex, you and I will investigate, Ash will man the guns in case we need cover." Wrex was tough enough that he would be able to weather an initial ambush if it came to it, and the less people that came on this excursion the less people he would have to worry about if they needed to bug out in a hurry.

"On it Shepard, make sure not to shoot us whilst 'calibrating' bird face..." Wrex's version of 'friendly' banter still needed work, but given some of the other Krogan they had now met Shepard knew that Garrus wouldn't take the dig to heart, it was just how the lizard like behemoths were.

"I wouldn't worry about me doing it accidentally, given the number of complaints we have had about your ugly mug upsetting people everywhere we go, I would be doing the Commander a favour..." Huh, obviously Garrus had been working on his responses whilst Shepard hadn't been paying attention as his jab was far less hot headed than Wrex usually goaded him into.

But he could worry about that later, as he stepped into the modified entry/exit port of the COAT with a grumbling Wrex beside him, the door shutting and sealing behind him and sealing the cockpit from the icy blast that came through the opening cargo doors a moment later. The cold was noticeable even through his armour, and if it weren't for the handy GPS location on his mini map that Tali had fed into his suit then he would have struggled to discern the direction of their destination as hail buffeted into his armour powerfully enough to activate his kinetic shielding.

"You take me to the nicest places Shepard, should the women be worried about your plans for me?" Wrex chuckled at his own joke for a few moments, before slipping into what Shepard was referring to as his 'murder face', as they passed a burned out wreck of one of the transports the ERCS teams had used. Shepard knew that it was a little cruel to the memories of the dead, but he was glad that his helmet and the climate meant he was in a self contained environment, he had smelt enough burnt human flesh to last a lifetime...

[]{}#%^*+=

"Every single security system for this place is designed to stop things breaking out..." It was something they had noticed the moment they arrived at Peak 15, and even without Tali bringing it up as she hacked another access panel for him it was something that was making more than slightly paranoid. If it hadn't been the security systems for this place keeping the Geth in the Peak's transport hangar, why had they not merely attacked the Peak's occupants on mass in order to remove any witnesses/useful intelligence that Shepard was after?

"Similar to the prison we have on the Citadel, though even we had some precautions about people entering the place without us knowing. The Geth didn't seem interested in going into the base, which means that they weren't here to rescue Benezia or something like that. That means that she is probably in command of what is going on inside and there are probably hostages for us to deal with." Garrus' musings made a lot of sense, and that hopefully meant that they wouldn't need to deal with everyone in Peak 15 before they made it to Benezia, at least some of them had to be here unwillingly for the defences to be set up as they were.

"What about the scrabbling sounds we have been hearing in the walls? At first I thought it was just me but the noise has been getting louder and louder, it's almost as if..." Ashley's comment was accentuated by a large banging noise from in front of them, the noise making everyone jerk in the direction of the disturbance with weapons drawn as Wrex finished the soldier's thoughts.

"We are being watched. And there is at least a dozen of the bastards in the walls right now..." Shepard was already running through the list of possible creatures they could be about to face that matched the noises they were hearing, but he was glad that they had waited with the three surviving ERCS members they had found in an improvised snow shelter less than a kilometer from the ambush site until the Ontario crew caught up in the Mako to take them back to Port Hanshan for further treatment, he had enough people to worry about without the injured to consider as well.

"Some kind of Vorcha hybrid? Varren wouldn't have stayed in the walls this long..." Liara's thoughts were along the lines Shepard had been thinking of, but he had the feeling that whatever was so important as to justify the sneaking of almost 300 Geth of various sizes onto the planet, along with the other surprises Benezia no doubt had waiting for them in the main body of the base, was going to be something slightly more spectacular/horrifying than some basic bio-engineered parasites.

"We are about to find out, they are gathering in front of us now rather than around us like they did before, orders Shepard?" Wrex was looking unusually uncomfortable as he hefted his shotgun defensively, though given he didn't say anything more specific Shepard left it alone for now, they had bigger things to worry about.

"Form up, Tali and Wrex at the front, Ashley take left and I will take the right, Garrus cover the back in case there are any surprises..." That was as far Shepard got with a strategy when the enemy revealed itself, the floor grating in front of them violently shifting as several Varren sized beasts forced their way up out of the floor, flailing tendrils cutting into the metal flooring with worrying ease even as the team opened fire almost simultaneously.

Even with mass effect rounds having the momentum to punch through several inches of hardened steel, the monstrous creature Shepard was aiming for took half a dozen rounds from his pistol and still barrelled into him with the force of a charging Krogan. Shepard managed to mitigate the danger by shifting to avoid the thing's gaping maw, firing off a warp lance into one of the thing's eyes that seemed far more effective, the thing giving a piercing screech before collapsing to the floor twitching.

Firing twice more to make sure the thing actually stayed down, Shepard then rapidly turned his attention to the others to make sure they were okay, taking in the situation in an instant. Ashley and Garrus were fine, both having switched rapidly to their high calibre sniper rifles that seemed far more effective against this new enemy than their assault rifles judging by the three dead bodies in front of them, whilst Wrex was impaling another with the bladed end of his shotgun and firing repeatedly as he forced it back into two of its fellows with a vicious grin.

"Tali!" The young Quarian was using her shotgun to stave off one of the creatures that was attempting to crush her beneath it's bulk, it's tendrils flailing wildly as John focussed his senses and with a thrust of his hand used his biotics to send thing flying off Tali and into wreckage of the floor grating the things had left in the wake of their 'ambush'.

There was no time to collect his thoughts however, as another of the beasts thundered across the floor in his direction, spewing a green acidic mucous that thankfully was blocked by his hastily raised barrier, though the rate at which it started eating into the metal flooring was alarming to say the least. As he dodged to the side whilst firing off the taser dart he had built into his gauntlet as one of the upgrades to allow him to neural shock people at close range, Shepard grinned as the electricity arced into the thing, causing it to stumble and collapse as its legs twitched uncontrollably.

The thing's momentum caused it to continue sliding along the floor, right to Garrus' feet, the Turian placing a boot on the thing's head for a moment to steady himself before lifting his sniper rifle to point at the thing's maw and firing, the large caliber round removing a good portion of the thing's 'face' as its limbs flailed twice more before stopping awkwardly mid twitch.

"Targets down, what the hell was that Shepard?" Garrus managed to maintain a relative calmness in his tone even as Shepard moved to check on Tali, the girl doing her best to clear some of the gore from the front of her body suit in a manner that made it clear she trying not to squeal eww and flap her arms in a panic.

"No idea, but whatever they are, I can see why Saren wants some. Everyone okay?" After getting an affirmative nod from a still obviously shaken Tali, Shepard turned his gaze to the rest of his group to see Wrex sniffing one disdainfully smacking it with the butt of his shotgun.

"When I said I wanted you to take me to some interesting fights Shepard, even I didn't think it would be as crazy as this..." The Krogan seemed distracted as he trailed off, wiping the blade of his shotgun on the carapace of the last of the things he had killed, and after waiting a few seconds it was clear enough that he wasn't going to continue on his own.

"You know what these things are Wrex?" Ashley's question seemed to jerk Wrex out of his contemplations, but before he could speak Linron came over the comms with her usual no nonsense tone.

"Probably recognises them from childhood stories, the few that Krogan share, suppose reason for species being uplifted warrants place in cultural history even if they were enemies. Have already told Normandy to notify the Alliance, would advise waiting for back up against such a threat." It was difficult to tell whether Linron was being deliberately vague about what they were facing, or whether she simply didn't understand that others couldn't access the extranet with a thought to join the dots, but it was clear that at least two of his team knew something.

"Wrex, she isn't implying..." The grizzled Krogan nodded at Liara's question before giving an amused barking laugh that Shepard was slowly recognising as a sound that only came out when they met some enemy or obstacle that was above and beyond what would be normal for even a Spectre.

"I've only hear stories, as even I'm not that old, but this matches what my father told me when I was a child. Well done Shepard, you've managed to get us to encounter the only race in the galaxy that is more comprehensively considered extinct than the Protheans." Wrex splayed his arms out to the side to dramatise his next words.

"We are about to see the return of the Rachni..."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Not the longest of chapters, but when a cliff-hanger appears like that I can't resist stopping it there. Bits and pieces covered here regarding the new vehicle, arrival at Peak 15 and the introduction of the Rachni.
> 
> Personally, given the amount of trouble the Rachni gave the Council during the Rachni war, I think there would be something automatic in place in terms of procedures for a potential Rachni sighting. This will be expanded on in another chapter, but you'd think a species that required the uplifting of the Krogan to defeat would be taken a little more seriously than it seemed to be by the Council. And on that point, I like to think Wrex would recognise the creatures based on the stories he had heard even if he hadn't been born around that time...
> 
> As per usual, let me know what you think and see you all next time!


	11. Rachni, Rachni in the Deep

Now, Shepard knew he wasn't the most cultured of people, what with the traumatic childhood and military grunt training being the cherries on what had been a very fragmented education outside of his medical degree after Elysium, but even he recognised the name that Wrex so eagerly spouted.

"As if Saren bringing the Geth beyond the veil wasn't enough, he's brought back the Rachni now as well? I was a little skeptical about the whole Reaper thing Shepard, but even a Spectre wouldn't have the resources to pull this off..." Garrus was almost sounding awed by this latest revelation of what Saren had successfully hidden, from pretty much everyone in his mad desire to topple the Alliance, or whatever mad plan he had involving the Reapers.

"Not by himself, but we already know he had an Asari matriarch and human crime boss on his payroll, so who knows who else he has under his claw... Gotta say I admire the bastard's balls though, even I wouldn't be stupid enough to bring the Rachni back and think I could control them." Wrex looked like he was more than happy to continue forward into the base, but he looked like he would be the only one eager to do so.

Ashley was maintaining professional composure, but her hands hadn't left her rifle other than to help steady Liara, who had frozen up entirely at the appearance of the Rachni and was still shaking as she brandished her shotgun waveringly towards the nearest Rachni corpse. Garrus was pacing, muttering to himself as he looked around cautiously, as if another attack was to happen at any minute.

"I don't think you could call this type of attack controlling the Rachni Wrex, though this explains what the Geth were doing on glorified guard duty, they were here to stop the Rachni getting out rather than us getting in. I think we can say we are over our heads on this one Normandy, what's procedure on encountering a thought extinct species of genocidal aliens?" There wasn't an answer to his call on the comms either from the Normandy or Linron for several seconds, though if there had been an obvious answer Shepard would probably have drunk some of the ryncol Wrex was always trying to foist on him.

"Notified Captain Anderson directly Commander, I thought it best to get him to relay the threat to Ambassador Udina and the Council in person. I am getting a call from the Second fleet on high priority channels, with various other requests for authentication and confirmation from ships of the Third and Fifth fleet through other channels." Pressley's info dump made John shake his head, he had an idea of what had happened to cause such an influx of communications to the Normandy.

"Linron, when you say you notified the Alliance of the Rachni threat?" To her credit Linron seemed to realise that him asking the question meant that she had probably made a mistake, as her tone was conciliatory as she replied in her usual factual manner.

"Reviewing data from Rachni war lead to self assessment of potential outbreak here as potentially destabilising for entire Terminus, event similar to resurgent slaver fleet activity or Batarian aggressive expansion policy. Threats and response clearly laid out in Alliance threat analysis responses, adapted them to situation and sent a flash warning to all officers with required level of clearance alerting them of a Rachni sighting. Did I do something incorrect in my analysis Commander?"

Shepard resisted the urge to list the things wrong with what Linron had done, that list of officers with sufficient clearance probably included every frigate Captain in the Alliance for starters. It was just another thing he would need to work through with her, after the mission was finished. Instead, he had to deal with the shitstorm the Rachni sighting had inadvertently started into motion.

"Normandy, patch through that call from the Second fleet, then contact the Admirals of the Third and Fifth fleets. Relay what information we have so far on the Rachni and Saren's involvement. No mention is to be made of Matriarch Benezia until I express directly otherwise, understood?" Whilst the cards were all falling towards Benezia being a willing accomplice in all of this, the Alliance were going to be taking enough scalps without needing the additional rocks to look under.

"Understood Commander, patching you through now..." There was a moment's pause, before the now familiar voice of Admiral Hackett thundered into his ear in his usual gravelly tone.

"I'm hoping that there was some sort of typo in the warning you sent out Commander. If this was six months ago, I would be sure that you aren't claiming that Saren has brought back another enemy from the galactic myth book of bogeymen to threaten humanity with..." Despite the situation Shepard couldn't help but laugh at the man's tone and acid like sarcasm.

"Welcome to my life Admiral, where do you want me to start?"

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"I can't believe we are actually doing this..." Kaidan's whispered comment was obviously not meant to be heard, but the corridors they were slowly clearing towards Peak 15's interior were silent other than their own footsteps, so the noise travelled remarkably well.

"Ships from the Third fleet are on their way with support, and I have no doubt Council ships will be close behind them, given the panic Udina said the Council were in when he and Anderson told them. But the longer we leave them, the more likely our only leads on whether this is the only Rachni outbreak are going to either escape or get eaten. As much as they probably deserve it, imagine if the Rachni are released from a Binary Helix facility somewhere more populated, because we didn't rescue and interrogate any survivors?"

The fact that there would probably also be staff members, such as security and maintenance personnel, who would have had no idea what twisted monsters they were harbouring until they came bursting from the walls also helped. So Shepard had made the  _extremely_  unpopular decision to continue into the research base, whilst more serious help was on route. What could he say, he was a people person at heart.

"No need to guilt trip us Commander. Just know that if I die here, I will be coming back as one of your ghosts to tell you this was a stupid plan..." Garrus had switched out his Avenger assault rifle for a Matlock, given the armour the Rachni warrior breeds seemed to have, the fast firing standard Alliance weapon was going to do little but irritate them.

"Join the queue, I can barely move in this bosh'tet of a thing..." Given the inherent risk of armour damage leading to infection and death with Quarians, John hadn't been prepared to accept Tali accompanying them, especially after their first encounter with the little green living bombs that Wrex affectionately referred to as 'workers'.

Things had gotten, spirited, between them. Tali had made it clear, there was no way she was going to let him go into danger whilst she was kept back because of 'the risk'. He was saved from having to pull rank by the suggestion from Ashley that they utilise the heavy duty vacuum mining/repair suit that they had obtained from one of the pirate bases. It was eight feet tall and weighed over a tonne, but despite the difficulty Tali had in manoeuvring it through the corridors, the exo-suit easily made her the most durable person there.

"Don't know what you are all complaining about, these Rachni are far more fun to fight than mere pirates or mercenaries, if it wasn't dangerous it would be...ahead." The sudden change in Wrex's tone made everyone stiffen up and ready weapons, the Krogan's ability to  _smell_  the Rachni made him far better a scout than anyone else right now.

John wasn't sure whether it was just a lucky trait that Wrex possessed, or whether it was a 'survival of the fittest' carryover from his father and the other survivors of the original Rachni war, but for now he wasn't going to question his luck. Even as everyone raised their weapons defensively, Tali now sporting a Heavy Machine Gun that made his pistol seem pointless in comparison, the Rachni burst forth from the floor ahead of them.

The first two Warriors barely made it out of the new hole in the floor before the team's biotic users had them lifted in the air for the others to mow down, the Rachni's seemingly monstrous constitution not doing them much good when they were hit by over a hundred large bore Mass Effect rounds. In the time it took to finish the first pair though, four more warriors had clawed their way from the walls and floor and were closing rapidly, as well as at least a dozen 'workers' that were the smaller but still significant threat given the tight corridors and their compressed formation.

"Garrus, Kaidan!" Given the new enemies they had come across, and the vastly different way in which they fought compared to the Geth or normal enemies, Shepard had used the time in which Tali and the Quarians were refitting her new Exo-Suit to change the loadout of his assault team.

The two he called out, given their preference for ranged fighting as opposed to close quarters, were armed with several dozen grenades that could be launched from the underside attachments of their assault rifles with great accuracy. Even as Shepard launched a Warp Lance at the nearest warrior two grenades flew forward, one exploding to disperse a fine white powder that spread across the area just in front of the charging Rachni, the other exploding on one of the warriors just as they entered the cloud. The contents of the two grenades mixing lead to a rather impressive explosion, which caused Shepard to cover his eyes, even as the shockwave hit them.

"Nice fireworks Shepard, though we are now going to have to do some repair work if we want to get Tali's walker across that…" Even as the spots in his eyes started to fade, Shepard saw Wrex striding up to the edge of the rapidly disappearing firestorm, unconcerned about the flames that licked at his feet and legs.

The Krogan had a point though, the explosion having left severe damage to the path of the corridor they were using, Shepard was surprised it hadn't ruptured the structure entirely. Activating his Communicator, Shepard contacted the team he had leading the containment activities the Geth had previously been carrying out.

"Captain Seratha, I need a repair team inside with enough tools to repair about 5 metres of corridor so that we can get Tali across safely. Any issues outside?" The Quarian captain had been surprisingly quick and adept in taking control of the situation outside for him, whilst Pressley was dealing with co-ordinating the Alliance response and Ashley headed the Breakout Response team that were manning the COAT and the Mako.

"The Geth had three areas where they deliberately left service tunnels unblocked from Peak 15 as far as we can tell, allowing the Rachni to funnel into these areas where they could then be engaged in the open. I have Salvage team 1 converting the destroyed ERCS vehicles into some defensive structures for your marines, though we've only had the occasional warrior turn up so far. Whether that's because your team is dealing with them before they make it this far, or whether there just aren't that many of them we aren't sure, Ensign Waters is scanning the Peak and it's surroundings now. If you can return to the tram station, I will lead a team to meet you there, and then we can repair the damage."

Long gone were the days where Seratha was a shy and somewhat awkward conversational partner, the respect that came with being the Captain of the  _Ontario_ , along with working with him and his team had given her the confidence she had needed. The report was detailed, informative and her request was done in a manner that made him smile at her assertiveness, previously he would have had to ask if she wanted an escort.

"Of course Captain, will see you shortly." She still fancied him, though John knew that more from Tali's grumbles rather than from him picking anything up personally, but he wouldn't have to worry about that affecting her when they were facing a potential Galaxy wide threat.

Speaking of which, the effort of getting Tali to navigate back to the tram station would be excessive, so Shepard decided to do something he had initially been cautious about.

"Tali, Wrex, Garrus. Stay here and make sure the Rachni don't try and re-occupy the area we have just cleared. Kaidan, you coordinate them. Dahlia, Linron and I will head back and meet the repair team. Nobody take any stupid risks, fall back at the first sign of trouble, understood?" Even when they were dealing with the Geth, Shepard hadn't been this cautious.

But, after all the combat they had taken part in since Eden Prime, the Geth were worryingly becoming a 'normal' enemy to face.

But Tali and Wrex were the only ones who could probably take out a Rachni one on one right now with any level of surety, Tali's new armour made her into something of a lumbering close combat giant if she could build up some momentum. Therefore they, with Kaidan and Garrus providing ranged support, should be able to at least withstand another assault long enough for his group to get back to them if needed.

"Understood Commander, see if you can get some extra grenades whilst you are back there? Given we haven't even breached the main body of the lab complex yet, chances are we will be facing a lot more of these things…" Shepard nodded in agreement, last thing they wanted to do was run out of grenades at the wrong moment, but before he could reply Pressley's voice came over the comms.

"Commander, the first ships of the 3rd Fleet have arrived on the edge of the system, Admiral Singh has contacted the Normandy and wishes to speak with you. Shall I patch him through?" Indicating to Dahlia and Linron to follow him, Shepard took off at a slow jog through the corridors, keeping an ear out for any out of place sounds that he encountered on the way.

"Patch him through Joker, the Admiral will understand that I am more than a little distracted." Admiral Singh had been the one 'in charge' or his N7 strike team for most of his deployments, before he had been transferred to the Normandy and his promotion to Spectre status.

Whilst most the other fleets had specific co-ordinator roles for N7 team deployments, Nitesh Singh was a former N5 operative himself, and as such he preferred to manage his strike teams personally whenever possible. There was a click, before a familiar light tone appeared in his ear.

"John, please tell me that this is all an elaborate scheme to get me back for the Ubrecht incident? Admittedly the Arcturus station is quiet at the moment as posts go, but I do not consider long dead alien bugs a suitable way of stopping my men from getting bored." Admiral Singh had never been one for politeness, which was one of the things that made his rise to his current rank all the more impressive, his sarcastic introduction probably causing some of his bridge crew trouble.

"Admiral, I had forgotten about Ubrecht, though now you have brought it up we can talk about it, when I am not surrounded by Rachni. How's Alliance High Command dealing with the news?" Shepard was unsurprised to hear the Admiral cursing rather brazenly a moment later, before replying to his question.

"I shouldn't have mentioned it, and the brass are currently preparing plans to mobilise every ship we have, in between running around bellowing pointless orders to make it seem like they know what they are doing. Whilst they piss around, worrying about the shit flinging that is going to happen after this is resolved, Hackett and I are already dealing with other potential attack points." There was the sound of shuffling on the other end of the line, as John reached the long corridor that would lead them back to the tram station, before Singh's voice came back slightly more distantly.

"We have units moving to storm every Binary Helix office, factory and research facility in Alliance space, and as you can probably imagine that is a lot of potential hot spots to cover. I have brought the  _SSV Logan_  as well as the Cruisers  _SSV Waterloo_ and  _SSV Cape Town_ , whilst the 42nd and 63rd Scout Flotillas are splitting up to support my other ships. If Rachni have been shipped to any of the Alliance's worlds, Naval support will definitely be necessary to contain any outbreaks." The sounds of sporadic gunfire from ahead suddenly had Shepard break into a sprint, though Singh continued speaking a moment later.

"I have my comms officer trying to contact  _anyone_  in the Council Fleets that can provide useful information about Rachni tactics or containment measures, but the comms lines are so jammed right now I doubt we will get anything useful for hours. Anything you can forward to us would help save lives Shepard." Shepard held off answering as he reached the end of the corridor, though he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Seratha berating a Quarian male.

Judging by the Geth corpse nearby, obviously the Quarian had decided to make sure the Geth was dead by shooting at it, and his Captain had obviously not approved.

"Linron, send all combat footage we have against the Rachni so far. Admiral, if there is another threat then there will probably dormant Geth hidden there as well. There were almost 100 of them at Port Hanshan, and that isn't including the ones we destroyed whilst travelling to Peak 15, so have Engineers with the Scouting parties so that they can scan everything as you go. Lastly, all Alliance strike teams are to utilise high calibre weapons in the case of a Rachni outbreak, the Avenger does nothing to these things." It was as much information as John could give without a prolonged analysis of the combat footage, and given the situation on Peak 15 he definitely didn't have time for that.

"Understood Commander, I will get the word sent out to all strike teams now. We are doing our best to keep things under wraps from the general population, but once this all goes down it isn't going to be something we can hide from the press. Best if you can firm up whether there has been anything transported from the station, then we can carry out our investigations a little more subtly. I have just short of 1,000 marines, as well as Grizzly's and other armoured support units, when we get into orbit you can light up a comm buoy and they'll move in. Singh out."

Abrupt, to the point, and entirely at risk of breaching protocol. It was enough to make John smile, which only widened as Seratha noticed his approach and came running over, pulling off a quick salute before pulling him into a quick hug.

"Commander, sorry for the noise, this bosh'tet thought we needed to shoot every Geth corpse we saw, just in case it was 'lying in ambush'. I've brought most of the crew the  _Ontario_  can spare, most of the Security team will remain here and secure this entrance until more support arrives, the Elanus Risk Control Services mercenaries are still stuck 'securing Port Hanshan'. Captain Matsuo sends her apologies, but given the issues you've already dealt with, the Board will definitely fire her if she weakens the Port's defences any further." Sounded about right, and at least Matsuo was being honest, given the losses and attempted mutiny she had suffered.

"Alliance ships have just arrived, so Marines will be here soon. Remember what I told you back on the Citadel Seratha, I don't expect you guys to fight. So everyone, if you see a Rachni, radio it in and then fall back. These things were feared throughout the Galaxy for a reason." He didn't know why, but the order to run away if there was trouble, which had so annoyed Tali, seemed to make Seratha really happy instead.

"Of course Commander, you heard him Quarians. Nirjhar, your team will collect all Geth and Rachni corpses in this area, carefully! Security team will stay here and make a perimeter, if anything moves report it in and then withdraw carefully. I want Comms updates every 10 minutes, anyone who doesn't report in regularly will be presumed missing, and will go without their tithe for the next two months." The groan that erupted from the assembled Quarians at the promised punishment surprised Shepard slightly, but the 500 credit monthly allowance was more disposable income than any of these Quarians had ever had, and that was after Tali had talked him down from offering nearly double that.

It was still far cheaper than the rest of his crew, to the point he could easily retain 3 Quarians to every Alliance crewmember, but any extra cash he could save was good in John's book. He took note of the five Quarians that didn't move to immediately follow their Captain's orders, all male and carrying welding gear or other maintenance gear. He was surprised Kiaran wasn't there, but he was probably in charge of the  _Ontario in Seratha's absence._

"Ready when you are Commander." Watching as Seratha flipped a shotgun, from where it had been on the floor into her hands with one leg, Shepard found himself with a warm feeling in his belly.

"This way then Captain, let's get this show back on the road…" Shepard decided to ignore the feeling, it was probably from his impromptu sprint after all…

[]{}#%^*+=

It took them another hour to make their way through Rift station. Given the 50 or so Rachni his team had killed so far, not to mention the ones that were still sporadically trying to break out of the facility, John felt they hadn't made bad time. They had found several areas of fighting, though judging by the dismembered and partially digested bodies they found scattered around the corridors, it hadn't been much of a fair fight.

Admiral Singh's men had just started setting up in the main facility of Peak 15, and though Shepard hadn't been hailed directly, Pressley reported the arrival of 3 Council Grand Cruisers and at least a dozen frigates. Given how the Council had flatly refused to send ships into the Terminus after Saren, the fact they sent such a force so quickly was a significant reminder of how serious the situation was.

"Signs of fighting up ahead Shepard, smells fresh too. Could be the source of the gunfire we heard earlier." Wrex's comment through had his forward team readying their weapons once more, not that any of them had exactly relaxed since stepping foot on the station.

With Admiral Singh's men in place, John had moved his marine forces to secure the tram station. This allowed his Salvage teams to start taking apart everything there with impunity and setting up signal boosters, to allow him to remain in contact with the Normandy, as well as releasing Ashley to lead the 'rear guard' behind them. Turning to Linron, who was the only 'non-soldier' in the forward group, Shepard gestured forward.

"See if you can get into the local security system Linron, I need to know how many survivors and how heavily armed they are." After all, just because they were fighting the Rachni, didn't mean they weren't working for Benezia.

"I will try Commander, but given the amount of damage seen so far, would not be surprised if the camera systems no longer function." Watching Linron walk over to a wall, look at it for a few moments before slamming her cybernetic arm  _through it_  was still quite the spectacle to watch, her body freezing in place as she found the wiring she was looking for.

It was unconventional and wouldn't work when they weren't in a warzone, but it saved her having to find a data outlet that was still working.

"Only two cameras still functioning, showing defenses ahead. Poorly constructed, obviously done in haste, but create good defensive position on our approach. Count 8 Risk Control Security staff, as well as 3 armed civilians manning the defences, could be more out of view… Interesting…" There was a flash from Linron's synthetic eye, which John had quickly learned was when she had encountered a security program and was being forced to 'allow' herself access.

"Security program designed to shut down access to cameras if accessed from any location other than one that is somewhere below us. Dealt with this system, without leaving any sign I have done so, but to follow to the source could activate other systems, cannot deal with them so quietly. Conclusion, cameras have been left active on purpose, system to alert those below of events above. Perhaps to allow assessment of defences and whether labs are being overrun?"

Or, they were there to give Benezia advanced warning of anyone trying to break into the labs, like he and his team were currently doing.

"Can you loop their feeds or something until we pass them? I would prefer not to let Benezia know we are coming if we can avoid it." That was assuming the surviving Risk Control guards weren't on her payroll, though if that was the case there wasn't much John could do other than try and take them out quickly.

"Will start taking previous recorded footage to use, if camera feed is being watched will probably not work, but unlikely given how long since labs went dark. There, footage is looping last hour of footage, including attack by Rachni that ended 21.2 minutes ago." It wasn't a perfect solution, and Linron was right about the potential of someone noticing the hack, but as he motioned for the team to move forward it was better than nothing.

"This is Council Spectre John Shepard, responding to the Geth and Rachni outbreak from this station. Any survivors, lower your weapons and allow us access!" It was the loudest any of his team had been outside of combat since they left Port Hanshan, but as the sound of voices came out of the doorway ahead of them, it would at least stop them being fired on 'accidentally'.

"This is Captain Ventralis of Elanus Risk Control, I don't care if you are Ambassador bloody Udina, there is no way in hell my men are lowering their weapons with all these damn bugs around!" John couldn't exactly fault him for that, but it also meant that they would be walking into a potential kill zone with armed and ready opponents waiting for them.

"Wrex, Ashley, with me. Everyone else stack up, if they turn hostile I want shock and awe." Whilst they would be exposed to some fire, the three of them had the toughest shields and armour out of his strike team, and if need be he and Wrex could barrier up and tank some more hits.

"Right, we are coming in, hold your fire!" The threat of what would happen if they didn't was fairly clear, and as he walked into what seemed to have previously been a canteen of some sort, John was glad that nobody was stupid enough to open fire.

The room had clearly been turned into a makeshift stockade, with furniture and several sections of flooring having been stacked on the far side of the room. One of the men was moving forward from behind the barricade towards them, which was a good sign that they weren't about to be attacked, but as John's comm unit activated once more Wrex stiffened and raised his shotgun.

"More Rachni Shepard" At the same time as everyone in the room readied their weapons, John's eyes were darting between the three torn sections of grating that weren't too far from his current position, trying to come up with a plan.

"Spectre, this is Captain Ailiya of  _Cybaen_ , you are advised to…" John cut her off, waving through the rest of his team, several of the defenders eyes widening as Tali stomped through to take up a firing position not far from the door.

"Little busy with the Rachni Captain, one second." Gesturing with one finger at the holes to his right, and then with two fingers to his left, John was pleased to see the strike team split themselves into their allotted teams seamlessly, Garrus and Kaidan readying grenades as the scratching sound got louder.

"Sorry about that Captain, carry on." It was cocky to say the least, and John's free hand didn't stray from his pistol even as he turned back in the direction of the barricade and walked forward towards the Risk Control guards.

But, if the Risk Control Mercs were on Benezia's payroll, then a good show of power might convince them that pissing him off really wasn't a good idea. And the more people he could get out of this alive, the more likely they would be able to get something useful out of them. John was sick enough of Noveria now that, saving these people because he could really didn't compare to his desire to get off this forsaken hell hole as quickly as possible.

"As I was saying Spectre, I have been given an official Council mandate to neutralise the Rachni threat conclusively and as quickly as possible. So you are to withdraw from the outbreak location as soon as is feasible and… By the Goddess…" John had been streaming his helmet feed as part of the conversation, and he managed to time his turn just in time to see the first Rachni tear themselves from the floor.

There weren't more than half a dozen warriors and a few workers, which still seemed to panic a couple of the ERCs guards, but his teams were already slaughtering them by the time the first of the guards managed to aim their weapons.

The two grenades dealt with most of the workers, Liara and Linron breaking off from attacking the warriors to target the remaining three workers almost instantly, whilst a combination of biotics and heavy weapons fire shredded three of the warriors by the time they could begin charging forwards. Wrex slammed into the nearest survivor to him with a happy roar, whilst Tali's HMG split the one that tried to move in her direction in half with remarkable accuracy.

The last Warrior charged in his direction, and John charged up a biotic lance, waiting until the Rachni was less than a dozen yards away before unleashing it with pinpoint accuracy into the thing's maw. It was too close for the Rachni to dodge, and as the Rachni's corpse slid to a stop just past his position, John carried on talking like nothing had happened.

"Captain Ailiya, I am afraid I do not know the capabilities of the  _Cybaen_ , but with the  _SSV Logan_  and it's support ships on location this outbreak is under control. Given this facility is sponsored by Rogue Spectre Saren, I need it to be something other than a pile of burning rubble if I am to glean any useful information from it about other potential Rachni Outbreak sites. The last thing we want is for Rachni to have been shipped off Noveria and us not knowing about it, correct?" It was probably the politest way John could think of telling the Asari to not try continuing to follow the Council's plan, to cover this mess up as quickly as possible, even if it meant turning Port Hanshan and Peak 15 to rubble.

"But the Council gave me orders…" John sighed and cut the video feed, watching Wrex extract another trophy from the warrior he had just mutilated wouldn't be good for a normal space crew to watch.

"The Council told you to contain the outbreak, the Alliance and I are already doing that. If you want to follow your orders, contact Admiral Singh on the  _SSV_   _Logan_ , he is co-ordinating the scans of the rest of Noveria. There is no point bombarding Peak 15, if the Rachni have already escaped and created a colony, it will be somewhere else on godforsaken planet." John doubted they had, the Geth had been blockading the place well enough before his team arrived, but it would keep the Council ships busy whilst he finished here.

"I, understood Spectre, I will order my ships to co-ordinate with Admiral Singh's in completing the scan. I will report the confirmed appearance of the Rachni to the Turian 6th fleet as I was instructed, but I will include the footage you have just shown me, it should be enough to prevent a full Council Fleet entering the Terminus for the first time in decades. Good luck Spectre, Ailiya out." With the threat of planetary bombardment dealt with, at least for the moment, John now just had to deal with the potential threat of the Peak 15 staff.

Turning and striding over to the Rachni warrior he had just felled, John could see several of the guards looked extremely nervous, whilst the three armed civilians looked relieved and grateful. That told Shepard everything he needed to know, so he decided to go with an approach he had started to perfect since becoming a Spectre.

"So I'm Spectre John Shepard, and I'm looking for Matriarch Benezia. I have almost a thousand marines and other military units coming to secure this facility, so we will be able to extract you from here soon." Resting his foot on the Rachni's carapace, careful to avoid any of its corrosive blood, John paused for a moment before giving the coup de grace.

"And, as you probably just heard, the Council want this place burned to the ground as 'outbreak containment'. So at the moment, me finding and capturing Benezia is the only reason they haven't done so. Any questions?"

Judging by the panicked looks more than one guard sent Captain Ventralis, even as Tali added to the tension by activating the auto loader on her HMG in a rather unsubtle manner, if it came to a fight then it wouldn't take them too long to 'pacify' the situation…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, we have a Dreadnaught, a 'Dread Cruiser' (look the Cybaen up and try and tell me that 'accident' wasn't on purpose), two normal Cruisers and a dozen Frigates in the Traverse. Given the fears, that such a military 'invasion' could pre-empt a new wave of pirate attacks and slaver activity across the galaxy in response, this is one hell of a way of showing how serious a threat the Rachni are considered by the Higher Powers.
> 
> If I really wanted to, I would have had the Council order the Cybaen's Frigate Escort to bombard Port Hanshan and Peak 15 regardless of Shepard's presence. In game terms, this would end up creating a 'timed mission', with different choices affecting the mission rewards and consequences. For example, where Shepard has to neutralise the threats on Peak 15 in less than half an hour, or lose benefits available from Port Hanshan later on as it is wiped out.
> 
> But, given I had the Alliance get there first and deploy boots on the ground, that would have lead to the SSV Logan blowing one of them out of the sky in a 'do you really want to do this?' And as fun as an Alliance/Council war would be to write, I have one 'evil Council' story already… XD
> 
> Tali's Exo-suit is both a common sense move in my head, given the fragility of Quarians in general, and also the start of my development in ways Shepard can improve his forces (Based on Cerberus Walkers in ME 3, though nowhere near as advanced currently). Exo-suits will have the advantage of heavier weapons and ridiculous close combat strength, but the weaknesses of being a big target that cannot use most cover and prone to limb damage that makes them far less useful.
> 
> Not great against the Geth, whose Rocket troopers and other 'big uns' will make mincemeat of them right now, but against common pirates or an enemy focussed on getting in close? Definitely a game changer, and one that Shepard can direct his 'tinkerers' to improving the functionality of as the game progresses.
> 
> On a more serious note, I have to offer an apology now. I have recently bought a house, which all of a sudden means I have suddenly got to worry about this whole 'being an adult and managing my budget' thing. I know I don't post regularly, but this is me letting you guys know that that rate is going to drop significantly going forward.
> 
> I did set up a .on account, but I don't think what I offer on here is going to be worth people spending money on. Though, if you want to check it out, it is the same username as I use here. Perhaps I am being overly pessimistic.
> 
> I have muscled through all of my working stories to provide you with a new chapter for each of them, I hope you all enjoy them, and apologies for the bad news.
> 
> Let me know what you think guys!
> 
> Defias out


End file.
